Emma Broke the Curse at 15
by CharmingsDaughter
Summary: This is my idea of what would happen if Emma had broken the curse when she was 15 instead of 28 and how that would have effected her relationships with the rest of the characters of storybrooke. There will be PLENTY of DADDY!CHARMING moments. This is my first attempted at Fan Fiction. Also I do not own Once Upon A Time or any of the characters.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first attempt at Fan Fiction but I love Once Upon A Time and I have always hoped that they would do a "What If" flash back, even if it was only one episode. So here is my idea of what it would have been like if Emma had broken the curse at 15. She is definitely a trouble maker but Snow and Charming are read! There will also be plenty of Daddy Charming moments because I don't feel like we ever get enough! I do not own once upon a time or any of the characters! AU Fiction.**

Chapter 1 -

Emma's head began to swim as the purple smoke began to clear. It was all true, she really was the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and the rest of the residents of Storybrook were fairy tale characters.

All of a sudden a wave of panic began to over take her. What if her parents didn't want her? What if they had never actually wanted her and gave her away so they could start over? As a fifteen year old she had been in thirteen different foster homes. The longest she had ever gotten to stay anywhere was when she was a baby, with the Swan family who were the very first parents she ever knew but had given her up when the found out that they were pregnant with their own child. The last thing Emma wanted was to be sent to another foster home, she had just started getting used to living with David and, although she would never admit it, she actually liked living with him. He was the first foster parent she had had since the Swan's that actually tried to raise her like his own daughter. She would be devastated if she had to leave him and this small town, no matter how unusual it was.

Emma finally pulled herself together and realized that the first thing she needed to do was find David to make sure that he was okay after, well after whatever just happened. She decided that the most likely place for everyone to meet would be at Granny's so Emma headed there as fast as she could.

Snow looked at Charming and passionately kissed him feeling relieved that she had finally been reunited with her husband after fifteen years. However this moment was simply that, a moment. Her next thought was to figure out what that purple smoke was, but before that, she needed to find her daughter.

Charming also had the same though and began to speak before they were interrupted by the voice of a young blond girl standing in front of them with a bewildered look on her face. The Three of them stood their looking at each other for a moment until Emma broke the silence. "So it's true," Emma said, still feeling the shock of the moment.

Snow and charming walk toward their daughter and wrapped their arms around her. As Charming coddled Emma's head in his hand, the two shared a moment of total joy and relief in seeing the little girl that they had placed in that wardrobe all those year ago now standing in front of them as a beautiful young woman.

Emma's head was still spinning as her parents continued to hug her as the three of them stood in the middle of the street. These were her parents. After years of wondering if they would ever come back, she found them in the most unlikely place and in the most unconventional place possible. She didn't know how to feel. Hurt? Anger? Relief? Happiness? Love? Or maybe a combination of them all. However, Emma knew that her best bet was to simply bottle this until she had a moment to deal with it in private.

David looked at his beautiful family all together again. He didn't care what else was going on in Storybrook. As long as he had his girls, he would be okay. Just as David and Mary Margret were releasing Emma from their embrace the ground began to shake causing Emma to fall to the ground. Charming and Mary Margret gasped as they immediately reached for the daughter.

"Are you okay?" David asked as he lifted Emma off the ground trying to see if there were any visible cuts or bruises.

"Yea I'm fine" Emma said, a little embarrassed that her parents were fawning over her over a little fall. David knew that Emma was embarrassed by the fall but he couldn't help but pull her into a hug and try to comforter her, even if she didn't necessarily like it.

David released her from his grip and then looked at Snow. "We need to get home before that happens again," David said with a little bit of concern in his voice.

"Whose house should we go to?" Mary Margret asked. She and David have been dating for a few months with the encouragement of Emma. She had seen how they completed each other in a way she had never seen before, but now she understood, they were made for one another.

"Let's stop by your place and grab your stuff and you can come to our house for now, how does that sound?" David asked looking at Mary Margret. He knew that this was going to be a lot for Emma to take in and that she may take it better if she got to stay in a familiar environment, at least for right now.

"That sounds great!" Snow said. So the three of them got into David's truck and drove to Mary Margret's loft. Emma decided to stay in the truck while the two of them went in and grabbed Mary Margret's things.

Emma had been silent during all of the conversations not knowing how to respond to everything that was happening. All she wanted to do was run. She knew that David and Mary Margret would be worried though if they came out and saw she was gone so she began to search through David's glove compartment for anything she could write on.

She ended up finding a napkin and a pen and left the two of them a note. "Don't worry about me, I'll be home later. I just need some time to think. Emma".

She left the note on the dashboard and jumped out of the truck. She didn't know where she was going to go but she knew she wasn't ready to face her parents.


	2. Chapter 2

**I hope you liked the first chapter. I hate when stories drag so I wanted to move the story along. Lots of teen angst in this chapter. Would love your reviews and I hope you like it!**

Chapter 2 –

David returned to the truck with Mary Margret's things and found the note Emma had left on the napkin. Immediately David began to drive out of town hoping that they would find Emma walking along the side of the road. Once they didn't see her the pair jumped out of the truck where David found a set of footprints that had to belong to Emma.

She had walked into the woods and it was starting to get dark.

All Mary Margret could think about was what would happen if Regina found out and immediately called grannies.

"Grannie? This is Snow, Emma has run off, I need you to get as many people together as you can to keep an eye on Regina in case she is trying to find Emma."

"Of course dear, I will have red spread the word, let us know if there is any other way we can help"

"We will" Snow said before hanging up the phone and catching up to David.

"Charming I'm scared, why would she do this?" Snow said as they continued to follow the footprints.

"She did this once or twice when she first came to live with me but I had been able to catch up with her before she got too far. Whenever things get to be too much for her she runs away from them, literally." David said trying to reassure his wife that it was in no way her fault.

Even though she hadn't said it charming had picked up on how Snow was feeling. She had lost her daughter once; she wasn't going to let it happen again. As it got darker the prints became harder to follow and the two began to worry that something had happened.

Emma had found a small cave deep inside the woods. She had no idea where she was or how she would get home, but she didn't care much about that at the moment, right now she needed to process her thoughts on everything she had just experienced.

Parents, that was a new concept entirely. Sure she had had multiple foster parents but none of them ever made her feel she was part of their family. She was always a guest in every home she stepped foot in and more likely then not, they always made sure she knew that.

David was the first foster parents she had ever had that made her feel like she mattered or that he wanted more then just the government paycheck every month, but instead he genuinely cared about her wellbeing which was new for Emma and she didn't know how to take it.

On top of that, she is supposed to believe that everyone in this small town is actually a character from a fairy tale including the two people who are claiming to be her biological parents? This all felt like a bit much for her to swallow at the moment.

Emma's train of thought was interrupted by the snapping of a twig not far from where she was. She wasn't sure who it was until she heard David and Mary Margret yelling her name. Emma knew it was only a matter of seconds before they found her and she had no place to run. She had to face them wither she wanted to or not.

David and Mary Margret rushed to their daughter. They were both relieved to see that she was unharmed and that Regina had not been able to get to her before they were.

"What were you thinking?" David asked in a disappointed tone. He and Emma had talked about how she needed to communicate when she needed space instead of running off.

"I just needed some time to think" Emma said looking at the ground, not wanting making eye contact with her parents.

"Emma, we talked about this. You know I will give you space if you need it but you have to let me know before you go running off, especially into the woods when it's about to get dark" David said.

"I know…I just…"

"You didn't think" David interrupted Emma.

"Now lets get you back to the truck and we can talk about your punishment when we get home."

David helped Emma to her feet as snow wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"We wouldn't be able to live with ourselves if anything happened to you Emma" Snow said wanting to reinforce the fact that they were doing this because they loved her.

"Whatever" Emma said as she broke away and started toward the truck.

Snow stood there wondering what she had done wrong. "It's not you Snow" David said placing his hands on her shoulder as they both watched their daughter open the door and hop in.

"She will be fine, we just have to ride it out with her. We will figure all this out" David reassured her as they began to make their way to the truck.

The three of them rode in silence back to David's house. When they arrived Emma immediately jumped out and ran to her room locking the door behind her. She knew they were going to send her back but she couldn't live with the fact that it was because they were starting over without her, so she would give them a different reason. A reason that she could live with and one that wouldn't keep her up at night after she left.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 –

 **Snow and David get thrown into the deep end of parenthood as they decide how to handle a very upset and confused Emma.**

"Emma!" David Yelled up the stairs after Emma as he heard her slam the door.

"She really is pushing her limits today" David said getting frustrated with how his daughter was behaving. He understood that everything she was experiencing was a lot to take in but he did not understand why she was deciding to take it out on him and Snow.

Snow walked up behind Charming and wrapped her arms around his waste, "Give her some space Charming, she'll come around".

Charming took in a deep breath and relaxed in the arms of his wife knowing she was right. Emma just needed some time to process everything and eventually she would come around and let them in when she was ready. He just wished that it didn't take her so long to finally talk about what was really bothering her.

On top of being a teenage girl, Emma also had a lot of hurts from her past that she would occasionally share with David when she finally allowed herself to break down.

"Lets give her some time while we get my stuff put away" Snow said as she pulled herself away from her husband.

"Sound like a plan to me," Charming said as he followed her lead and headed toward the truck to grab her things.

Emma sat in her room waiting for David to bust through the door and tell her to pack her things. She knew it was only a matter of time but she really wished that he would just get it over with; she had been in her room for a good thirty minutes.

She decided that she would go ahead and start packing so that way he could take her to the social workers office as soon as he came in.

Right as she was zipping up her bag she heard a knock on the door before David walked in. He looked at the bag and then at his daughter in total confusion of what she was doing.

"Emma, why are you packing your things?" David asked, still trying to figure out where Emma thought she was going.

"I know you're going to send me back so I decided that I would make it easier on myself and get my things packed. Let's go." Emma said pulling her bag from the bed and beginning toward the door.

David placed his hands on her shoulder stopping her from going through the door. Emma kept her eyes glued to the floor not wanting to look at David for fear that she would cry.

David put his hand under Emma's chin causing her to have to look him in the eyes as he spoke to her.

"Emma, you are not going anywhere. You are my daughter, our daughter, and we love you. There is nothing you can ever do to change that. We understand that this is a lot for you to take in but let us help you, okay?"

Emma looked at David searching his eyes to see if he really meant what he was saying. Emma prided herself on being able to tell if people were lying and right now, she knew David was telling the truth.

"So you're not sending me back?" Emma said looking back at the floor.

David was heartbroken that she would even think that they would even consider sending her back. She wasn't just a foster child, she was there daughter and he didn't know how to get that through to the young woman who stood before him.

"Emma, you are our daughter, no matter what happens we would never send you back. You are never leaving us again, do you understand?" David put his hand under her chin to once again make her eyes meet his.

Emma held back tears and simply nodded her head. David pulled her into a hug; he hated seeing her in any kind of pain.

"Now, go ahead and unpack and then come down stairs and we'll have dinner. Sound good?"

"Okay" Emma said as she turned to start unpacking.

"I love you Em" David said wanting to reassure her that he really did love her but Emma didn't acknowledge his words but continued to focus on unpacking her things.

David, feeling defeated, sighed and closed the door to give her some privacy as he headed back down stairs to help his wife with dinner.

"How did it go?" Snow asked when she heard David coming down the stairs not turning from the pot of spaghetti sauce she was working on at the stove.

"She thought that we were going to send her back" David said in a defeated tone as he walked up and kissed his wife on the side of her head.

"She what?" Snow said turning to her husband in total shock.

"Yea, she thought that we were going to send her back to foster care. She already had her things packed in a suitcase when I walked in. I don't know why she would think that we would send her back, we just got her back." David continued to sit on the stool on the other side of the counter staring off as he contemplated how Emma got the idea in her head.

His wife simply touching his hand in a way that let him know he was not alone in this which brought him back to the present moment.

"We will get through this Charming. We just have to keep reminding her how much we love her and hopefully it will sink in and she will begin to believe it" Snow said looking lovingly at the man she married admiring how much he truly cared for their daughter and desired to make her happy.

"I know Snow. What would I do without you?"

"Well good thing you don't have to find out, well again!" Snow said with a slight giggle as she turned back to the sauce and started water boiling for the noodles.

"It feels good to have my whole family under one roof" Charming commented as he began to relax and wait for Emma to come down and join them.

"By the way Charming, I think it would be best if we kept Emma with us until we find Regina and figure out if she has her magic back. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything else happened to her that we could have prevented," Snow said hoping that Charming would catch the worry in her voice which he did.

"I couldn't agree more. Although, Emma will not be happy with us," He kind of laughed to himself. He knew that with the help of his wife they would keep Emma save and make her feel loved, no matter how long it took.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 –

 **Family dinners can be a great connecting point, but they can also be the catalyst to heated arguments.**

Emma began to put her things back where they had been. Although she knew David wasn't lying to her, she still wasn't sure how long it would last.

When she had finished she put her suitcase back under her bed and headed down stairs to have dinner hoping that Mary Margret and David would not try and push the matter while they ate.

She saw snow bringing the spaghetti to the table just as she was stepping off the final stair.

"Just in time Emma!" Snow exclaimed as she saw her daughter. "What would you like to drink?"

"I'll just take a glass of water," Emma said to Mary Margret as she took a seat at the table.

David walked over and placed a kiss on the top of her head. He knew Emma wasn't always okay with the displays of affection but he really wanted to let her know that things were going to be different now.

Emma wasn't exactly sure how to react to her Father's affection because even though she truly did love when he did it, she wasn't quite ready for him to know that yet.

Mary Margret sat a glass of water down in front of Emma and they all began to have their first meal as a family. This is something that Emma had always wanted growing up.

Soon David broke the silence, "So we need to contact everyone and set up a town meeting for tomorrow," he said saying it more to snow then to Emma.

"I think that's a great idea. We need to figure out if we are able to cross the town line or if we are stuck here as well as establish some sort of order," Snow said in a no nonsense tone.

"I'm going to call August then and see if he wants to hang out," Emma said in a very nonchalant way hoping that her parents would just let it slide and not question her.

"Actually Emma, your mom and I talked about it and until we know where Regina is we decided that it would be best for you to stay with us," David said slightly nervous not knowing how Emma would react.

"David I'm 15, I can take care of myself!" Emma fought back.

"We understand that Emma but your age has nothing to do with it. We do not know if Regina has her magic back and if she does she is going to come after you. We have to be responsible parents and make sure that nothing happens to you, and for right now that means that we can't let you go off with your friends unless we're there to ensure your safety. We really aren't trying to be mean, we wish we could just let you go off but we can't. Do you understand?" David said placing his hand on Emma's shoulder.

Emma jerked away from her father's touch and crossed her arms.

"Emma, we only want the best for you," Snow said trying to break some of the building tension.

Emma went back to eating her spaghetti because she knew that if she didn't hold her tongue she would definitely make things worse for herself.

"Emma we also need to talk about your little stunt this afternoon. We understand you needed some space but we have talked about this before, if you need space all you have to do is let me know but when you run off like that you make me and your mother worried sick and on top of that we have to give you a punishment which we hate because it all could have been avoided if you would just talk to us," Charming said, knowing that his timing for the conversation really couldn't have gotten worse but he continued on.

"Your mother and I agree that the circumstances of today were very unique and that you have been through enough today that we decided not to punish you. However Emma, this is your last chance. The next time you do this you will be punished, no questions asked. Do you understand?"

Emma looked at David and then at Mary Margret and simply replied, "I understand," and then went back to her dinner.

Mary Margret and David shared a silent conversation feeling that things had actually gone better then they had expected and then they too returned to eating their dinner.

Once Emma was done she got up from the table and put her plate in the sink. She bid David and Mary Margret a good night and headed back up to her room.

However, she had no intention of going to bed, instead she decided that if she couldn't go to see August she would see if August would come to her.

"Hey August, want to come over?"

"Sure, I'll be over in five minutes!" August replied excitedly.

"Okay, but use the window, not the front door," Emma told him.

"The Window?" August replied,

"Yea, I don't think that David and Mary Margret would be too keen on me having friends over so you'll have to sneak in, is that okay?" Emma asked in a challenging tone knowing that August was always up for a new adventure of sorts.

"Alright, you better have something ready for me to climb on though," he said

"I'll be ready! See you in a few!" Emma replied. Now all she had to do was figure out a back up plan in case her parents decided to check on her before they went to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 –

 **Emma and August catch up about what it's like for Emma to have her parents in her life for the first time, that is until David decides to check on Emma. DADDY CHARMING TO COME! I know this chapter is short but I'll make up for in the next chapter!**

Emma heard a small ping on her window and looked out to see August waving. She grabbed the sheets that she had tied together and dropped them down to him, which he had no problem climbing up.

Once inside she pulled the sheet back inside as fast as she can as to make sure her parents didn't see.

"Well that was easy," August said sitting on Emma's bed.

"This isn't exactly the first time I've had to sneak someone into a house. One time my foster brother Bradley was out past curfew and I snuck him up to my room and got him into his room in the basement without my foster parents even noticing."

Emma had to admit she was pretty proud of her ability to pull off a good scheme.

"So what is it like having parents?" August asked, he had remembered having his father in the enchanted forest so even though he was older now; he was able to quickly fall back into the routine.

"It's very weird. They are all about being there for me and David especially wants to hug me all the time and kiss my head and I'm just not used to that. In my foster homes I was being touched it was because I was being smacked, not because they were trying to show affection."

Emma was not a very open person but she shared a bond with August that she could explain and it made her feel safe to share what she was really feeling.

"But what is really annoying is that they won't let me out of their sight, that's why I had to have you sneak in and I couldn't come meet you," she continued.

"They are having a town meeting tomorrow and I have to go with them. It's going to be so boring listening to all of them catching up with each other while I just have to sit there. I would much rather be hanging out with you or watching a movie but no!"

Emma was getting more annoyed as she went on and didn't realize that she had also began to raise her voice until she heard David come up the stairs and say her name.

"You have to hide NOW!" Emma panicked looking at August.

The two of them began to scan Emma's bedroom for the best hiding spot that August could actually get to in time. August hopped off the bed and rolled under just as David opened the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 –

 **Who is ready for some Daddy Charming? Emma tries to act calm while concealing the secret that August is hiding under her bed when David comes to say good night.**

"Emma?" David walked into his daughter's room wondering whom she was "passionately" talking to in her room.

"Yea?" Emma asked nonchalantly trying to conceal her panic.

"Who are you talking to honey?" David asked confused by the yelling he heard coming from her room.

"Oh, I was just talking to myself," Emma lied through her teeth hoping that David would not push the subject.

"Did yourself do something to upset you?" David asked sarcastically not fully believing the story his daughter was giving him.

"Alright you got me, I called August and we were talking and he said something dumb and I yelled at him. I didn't mean to be loud. I'm sorry," She continued to lie hoping that David would take this as a more believable story and leave before August sneezed or something and gave himself away.

"Alright, well I think it's time we said goodnight to August and get to bed," David said, feeling very protective of his little girl, he would have a talk with August when he saw him about calling his daughter without talking to him.

"Yea, I already hung up with him before you walked in so, looks like we're all good!" Emma smiled at David.

Something about this situation didn't sit right with David though. It was very unlike Emma to be so upfront about a situation much less having an answer for everything he said. He couldn't put his finger on it but he knew that Emma wasn't giving him the full story.

He walked over and sat on the bed next to Emma. "Are you sure everything is okay? What did August say that upset you so much?"

He knew that if he put enough pressure on her something would have to break.

"It was nothing, stupid really," Emma said getting uncomfortable with how close David was to her but even more how close he was to where August was hiding, she was really hoping that August would be able to hold on down there for a few more minutes or else things were going to go sower quick.

"Well Emma obviously whatever it was really bothered you. Tell you what; I'll talk to him. I don't' want him upsetting you anymore," David said as he put his arm around Emma.

"Oh no, David, that isn't necessary. It was nothing, really! He was just picking on me, that's all. It was playful yelling, nothing serious," Emma could feel her body start to tense up, but the problem was so could David; he knew she was lying through her teeth.

"Still, I don't want him making you upset and if his picking on you is doing so I need to have a talk with him," he said as he stood up to face his daughter.

When he stood up he noticed a sneaker under the bed that he had never seen before.

Emma had come to live with him bringing very little with her; in fact, she only had one pair of shoes, a pair of black boots. He had since gone and gotten her a few more pair but he knew that he hadn't purchased those.

Emma looked at her father's face and realized that she had been caught, but she wasn't going to give up without a fight.

"David, what are you looking at?" Emma asked hoping to draw his attention from what she figured was more likely August somehow sticking out from under the bed.

"Emma, whose shoes are those?"

"Um," she looked down to see August shoes sticking out from under the bed.

"Those are Augusts. Yea, he let me barrow them at school for gym class because I forgot mine and I accidentally wore them home and have forgotten to give them back to him."

David looked at his daughter and could see her face start to turn red. He knew he had her backed into a corner but he had to admire her effort to fight back.

He reached down and grabbed the shoe knowing it would have a foot in it and pulled hard enough to get August out from under the bed.

"Did you barrow August too Emma?" David said as he picked the young man up and set him on his feet while holding onto the back of his shirt.

"About that," Emma said looking panicked.

"Snow, could you please come up here" David yelled not taking his eyes off of his daughter.

Snow walked in and her jaw immediately dropped. "August! What are you doing here?" She exclaimed.

"The yelling we heard was our daughter talking to August here in her room. She decided to lie to me and try and hide August under the bed which almost worked except she is no better at lying then you are," he said glancing over at his wife with a smirk on his face.

"Emma Ruth Swan what do you have to say for yourself?" Snow said looking sternly at her daughter.

"You guys said I couldn't go anywhere so I decided to have someone over here. You never said I couldn't' have friends over," Emma said sheepishly as she began to squirm sitting on her bed.

At this point David was still standing holding the back of August shirt having no intentions of letting the young man go until he had a chance to have a stern talk with him about trying to pull a fast one over on him much less thinking it was okay to be alone with his daughter in her room.

"Emma, I'm going to give you one more chance to answer your mother. You are on very VERY thin ice right now," David said in a low voice.

"You guys said that I couldn't go see August tomorrow during the town meeting and so I called him and asked him to come over. I didn't think you guys would let him come over so I told him to come in the window," Emma said looking at the floor the whole time.

She felt bad that she had gotten her friend in trouble.

"Snow, can you please call Gepetto and ask him to come pick up August?" David said in a low voice, obviously trying to control his anger toward the two young people in front of him.

"Sure thing Charming, I'll be right back," Snow said as she dismissed herself from the room.

David released August commanding him, "Sit. Now."

Emma looked at her friend and gave him the most apologetic look she could muster.

"August, I want to know what made you think it was appropriate for you to sneak into my fifteen year old daughters room after dark. I know you just turned eighteen but you are now considered an adult. My daughter is not permitted to have boys in her room, especially with the door closed and especially when I am not informed of their presence in my home." David stood over the young man with his arms folded waiting for an answer.

If he had not known it was his daughters idea he would more likely have already thrown August out the window with no regard for his safety, he was still debating the option as he waited for the young man's response.

"Mr. Noland I am so sorry. Emma and I were simply talking, that's all. I promise it won't happen again."

"You're darn right it won't happen again. Until further notice August, you are not welcome in our home. We will see if you can earn that privilege back but I highly doubt it." Charming was about to go on but was interrupted by Snow walking in.

"Gepetto will be here in a few minutes," she said as she reentered the room. Although she was better at hiding her emotions than David, Emma could still tell that she had not heard the last of this from Mary Margret.

"Lets all go down stair and wait for your father August," David said grabbing the young man by the arm and directing him toward the door before stepping behind him trying to place as much space between the young man and his daughter as he could.

Snow followed suit with Emma and the four of them headed toward the living room.

"I want both of you to sit there and do not say a word," David warned.

Within ten minutes Gepetto was at the door to get August. It was the longest ten minutes of Emma's life but she would have rather it gone on for eternity if it meant she didn't have to face her parents.

Once she heard the door shut behind August and his father, Emma knew that it was going to be a long and unpleasant night.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 –

 **Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you guys are liking it. Now it's time to see how Daddy Charming handles his first experience dealing with his daughter and boys!**

Emma watched her father lock the door behind August and his father. Her stomach dropped at the sound of the dead bolt locking into place, she knew she was in for a long night.

David stood at the door for a moment trying to gather his thoughts. He knew that eventually he would have to deal with his daughter and boys but he didn't think it would be the first thing out the gate.

After taking a deep breath he turned around the face Emma sitting on the couch.

"Emma, Your mother and I are very disappointed in you," David said.

"I don't see why this is such a big deal!" Emma complained. "August and I are just friends, what's wrong with a couple of friends hanging out?" She argued.

"Emma, it isn't about you guys hanging out and you know it" Snow said sternly.

"Emma, you snuck a young man into your bedroom at night then you lied to us and tried to cover it up, that's what you're in trouble for." David said frustrated that his daughter was still trying to fight her way out of the situation.

Emma looked at the ground knowing that she had a better chance if she stopped trying to find the loop holes.

"Emma it is not okay for you to ever have a boy in your room with the door closed and a boy is NEVER allowed over here without our permission. Any young man who is interested in you…"

"Hold up" Emma interrupted her father, "August and I are just friends, where did you get the idea that he…liked me?" Emma said, uncomfortable with thinking of August like that.

"Well…I just assumed that you wouldn't have gone to the trouble to sneak him into your room much less lie for him unless you two had feelings for each other" David said turning redder by the second.

"In any case Emma, wither or not you have feelings for a young man it is totally inappropriate for you to ever be along with him in your bed room and for us to be unaware that you two are together" Snow swooped in to try and bring things back on track.

"Young man? It's August, we're friends" Emma said getting defensive and feeling uncomfortable with how David and Mary Margret were making it sound like her and August were more than friends.

"Emma, wither you realize it or not, being a princess…"

"Whoa, I am not a princess" Emma interrupted Snow.

"Emma, actually you are. Your mother and I were King and Queen of the enchanted forest which makes you a princess" David said slightly amused at how adamant his daughter was.

"Which mean that they expect us to behave differently than most people" Snow said.

Emma stared at the people she had only found out this morning were her parents now telling her that, on top of everything else, she was a princess.

It made sense to her once she put the pieces together but still. That was not something that had even crossed her mind.

"Okay, but, David, Mary Margret, no one knew that August was here except us and now August Dad. And you guys are expecting a lot! I mean, I just met the real you this morning. This is too much!" And with that Emma ran up the stairs.

"That did not go well," David said looking over at his wife.

"Yea, I guess we failed that parenting test," Snow said walking over and putting her arm around him.

"I shouldn't have brought up the fact that she is a princess. I guess I got caught up in the moment and my own mother came out," Snow said

"Yea, I think we overwhelmed her. This day has been so stressful it feels like this mornings events happened last week," David replied.

"I think you should go talk to her Charming," Snow said pulling away from her husband.

"So you're going to throw me under the bus?" David said slightly joking.

"As much as I would love to be the one to go and comfort my daughter, I don't have that relationship with her yet. She has had time to get to know you, I think that this conversation would be one best handled by you," Snow said, slightly heart broken as the realization that she did not know how to comfort her own daughter sunk in.

"I guess you're right," David said. "I guess I'll head up there," he said with a sign.

"Good Luck, I'm down here if you need me," Snow smiled and then kissed her husband.

"Thanks Love," David said kissing her back before he headed up stairs.

David turned and started walking up the stairs not liking his odds as to how his daughter would react.

As he stood in front of her door he took a deep breath knowing that he would get nowhere if he went in there hot headed.

He knocked on the door, "Emma, it's me, can I come in?"

He waited a moment before knocking again. Once again, no response.

David decided to open the door to find Emma's window wide open with a sheet tied to the foot of the bed hanging out the window.

"SNOW!" David yelled. If this day had not been long enough, it was about to get longer.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 –

 **Emma is really not dealing well with all of this newfound information. Warning, there are some trigger topics in this chapter.**

Emma ran until she ran out of breath. She couldn't handle letting David and Mary Margret down again but she knew she couldn't be the princess that they obviously wanted.

She finally broke down somewhere in the middle of the woods. Emma was never good with directions and the dark only made things worse. In this case she really didn't care. She figured that if they couldn't find her then they could start over without her and she wouldn't have to live up to their expectations.

Emma leaned up next to a tree and wrapped her arms around her knees before she began to sob. All she had ever wanted growing up was a family and now that she has it, she couldn't measure up.

The overwhelming guilt and frustration only caused her to sob harder until she ultimately threw up. Emma hated being out of control like this. She looked around and found a small branch and tore of a small, sharp twig.

Emma had started cutting when she was in foster care after one of the foster parents she was living with would punish her and her foster siblings whenever they caught them crying. Emma found that the pain of cutting would allow her to release the emotions without crying, and eventually she realized it could help her contain her emotions entirely.

Since she had come to live with David just as it had gotten cold she was able to wear long sleeves so it was no work for Emma to hid her scars from year past. She had been convinced that David would send her back if he knew she was damaged. After tonight, she was positive that seeing her scars would seal her fate for sure.

As Emma began to cut she felt a sense of relief spread over her and she was able to get herself together.

_OUAT_

Snow began to panic the further they drove with no sign of Emma.

David didn't want to show it but he was feeling the same panic as his wife.

When the two reached the town line they got out of the truck and began to walk into the woods. David grabbed his large spot light out of the back of his truck so that it would be easier to find any tracks that Emma may have left.

"David, we have to find her soon! The temperature is starting to drop and she isn't wearing her coat!" Snow had noticed Emma's coat hanging form the chair in the kitchen when David had come down stairs to give her the news.

"I know honey, I promise we will find her," David was saying that as much for his wife as he was for himself.

It didn't take long for the two to find a set of tracks that they knew had to be Emma's and they were off.

_OUAT_

Emma, after cutting her arm a few times with the twig finally pulled herself together enough to start thinking clearly.

She was starting to get cold and was regretting not dressing warmer since she had left her coat down stairs in the kitchen. She knew enough about survival that she had to find a way to get warm.

She decided that she would try to find her way back toward town and sneak into the school until the morning. With everything going on they wouldn't be opening the school for a few days and it was the last place anyone would look for her.

She pulled her sleeve down knowing that the shirt would be ruined from the bloodstains but she didn't want the cuts to get infected from being exposed to the elements.

She started walking hoping that she could avoid any large holes or vines. She had no idea where the town was but figured that if she started walking she would eventually figure out where she was.

Unfortunately for Emma luck was not on her side. After walking for just a short time her ankle caught a root and she fell to the ground twisting her ankle.

Emma yelled out in pain as she hit the ground with a thud. She knew immediately that her ankle was severely sprained if not broken. She tried to stand by fell right back down. She began to panic wondering if her parents even knew that she had run off.

This caused Emma to once again begin to sob uncontrollably


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 –

 **Poor Emma has had a rough day! Time for Daddy Charming and Mommy Snow to save the day! Warning, trigger topics continued.**

Snow and Charming heard a scream and immediately took off using the spotlight to make sure that they did not trip and fall.

David knew immediately that the scream had come from Emma and feared that Regina had somehow caught up with his daughter.

Snow felt sick to her stomach knowing that something was wrong with her daughter and she was not there to keep her safe.

They kept running toward the direction of the scream that was then replaced by sobbing as they came closer.

The spotlight shown on Emma who was curled in a ball holding her ankle and crying uncontrollably.

"Emma, thank God we found you!" David Exclaimed wrapping his arms around his daughter. She was shivering so he took his coat and wrapped it around her hoping it would help to warm her up.

"Emma what happened?" Snow said immediately starting to tend to her daughters ankle.

"I was trying to find my way back to town when I tripped and fell and it really hurts," Emma tried to explain through her tears

"I'm pretty sure you broke it but we need to get you to a hospital and get this x-rayed." Snow said

David picked up his daughter in his arms as snow picked up the spotlight and led the way back to the car.

Emma was always amazed at David's sense of direction, even in the dark. Snow seemed to have the same skill. Too bad they hadn't passed that down to her she though as the truck came into view.

David put Emma down next to the truck still bearing most of the weight so that her hurt ankle was off the ground. He unlocked the truck and picked Emma up again placing her inside before stepping back and helping Mary Margret in.

David walked around to the other side and started up the truck before heading straight to the hospital. Emma really hated hospitals but she knew that she had ran out of chances with her parents today so she wasn't going to argue.

As they were driving Mary Margret noticed the blood stains on Emma's sleeve.

"Emma? Did you hurt your arm too? There is blood all over your sleeve," Mary Margret said concerned that her daughter hadn't even noticed the large red stain that looked to be growing.

"Um, no." Emma said pulling her arm close to her body

"Then what happened Em?" David asked concerned

"It's an old stain from when I was in foster care," Emma lied hoping that they would leave it at that.

Charming and Snow looked at one another knowing she was lying but decided to let Doctor Wale be the one to prove them right.

They pulled into the Emergency Room and David immediately hopped out of the truck and scooped Emma up into his arms.

"What happened here?" Doctor Wale asked as he saw David coming into the door.

"Emma was in the woods and something happened to her ankle." David answered

"Put her over here," Doctor Wale instructed as he pulled a hospital bed over

"Get Emma to X-ray and then let me know what room she is in," Doctor Wale instructed the nurses.

As they rolled Emma toward X-ray David grabbed Doctor Wales arm before he could walk away.

"Wale, we need to ask a favor," David practically whispered pulling Snow to his side to make sure she heard.

"What is it?" Doctor Wale asked confused.

"Emma did something to her arm as well but I don't think it had to do with her excursion into the woods." David began

"There is a rather large blood stain on Emma's sleeve. She said that it was a old stain but I know fresh blood when I see it" Snow added.

"I understand" Said Doctor Wale, "I don't want to jump to conclusions but, do you know if Emma has ever hurt herself on purpose?" he inquired.

The couple looked at each other and then back at Doctor Wale. "I was never made aware of it when she came to live with me" David said. "But she is not open with her past so I honestly don't know"

"Well, like I said, I don't want to jump to conclusions, but it sounds to me that Emma is a self-injurer or as it is more commonly known, a cutter. May young people do it to deal with stress." Doctor Wale explained.

Snow and Charming were heartbroken to think that their daughter was under so much stress that she would decide to hurt herself in order to deal with it.

"Now I will check it out when I get her into an exam room but I think it would be better if you two were not in the room if that's okay" Doctor wale said.

"Of course, but please let us know as soon as you know anything about how she is doing" Snow replied.

"Of course" he replied and was off to find the room the nurses had placed Emma in and get the results of the x-ray.

Snow and charming were devastated by this news and were determined to make sure that their little girl never felt that way ever again.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 –

 **Doctor Wale has to confront Emma about her cutting and Emma has to face the fact that she needs some help dealing with it.**

"Hello Ms. Swan. My name is Doctor Wale, I think we have met before." Doctor Wale started as he entered the room

"Hello" Emma replied shyly "Where are David and Mary Margret?" Even though she was mad at them, she hated hospitals enough to put that aside.

"They will be in shortly, I wanted a chance to chat with you first" Doctor Wale explained.

"Chat about what?" Emma asked getting nervous.

"Well, I noticed the large blood stain on your sleeve. Mind if I take a look?" Doctor Wale said as he slid his chair over to Emma. Before she could respond he was rolling up her sleeve to reveal the cuts on her arm.

"Please Doctor Wale, don't tell my parents!" This is the first time Emma had called Mary Margret and David her parents.

"Emma, why did you do this to yourself?" Doctor Wale asked

"I just…I was overwhelmed by everything and…I promise I'll never do it again but please don't tell them!" Emma pleaded.

"Emma I'm really sorry but I don't have a choice, I have to tell them. But I'll tell you what. I'll get these cuts cleaned and bandaged up before I bring them in here so they don't have to see it like this okay?" Doctor Wale was hoping that this would make her feel a little bit more at ease.

"Is that my only option?" Emma asked hoping that there was some way she could convince Doctor Wale not to tell her parents.

"Tell you what, I will bandage up these cuts and then I will go out in the waiting room and talk to your parents and let them know what is going on and then they can come in. Does that sound good to you?" Doctor Wale was really hoping that Emma would agree to this because that was the last thing he had to offer her.

"So there is no way you can just not tell them at all?" Emma tried for a final time to get Doctor Wale to change his mind.

"I'm afraid not Emma." Doctor Wale said.

"Alright, I guess it would probably better for you to talk to them without me there then." Emma relented

"Okay Ms. Swan. Lets get you cleaned up and I'll do that."

Doctor Wale cleaned up Emma's cuts and bandaged them up. While he did he let her know that her ankle was severely sprained and that she would need to wear a splint on it for two weeks and use crutches for the week or so depending on how she was feeling.

Emma was beginning to feel awful as the pain from her ankle began to sink in along with the pain from her cuts on her arm.

Doctor Wale finished up with the bandages and let Emma know that the nurse would be in in a moment to put the splint on her ankle and give her a set of crutches before escorting her out to the waiting room where she would meet her parents.

_OUAT_

David and Mary Margret sat out in the waiting room for what felt like an eternity waiting for Doctor Wale to come and get them.

Once they saw him walking toward them the pair immediately stood to their feet to meet him.

"How is she?" Snow blurted out. She couldn't stand not knowing any longer.

"She's fine. She did in fact cut herself on purpose but thankfully it only broke the skin and was not very deep. I cleaned them up and bandaged them. The bandaging will need to be replaced every day until the cuts heal in order to prevent infection" Doctor Wale explained.

"Also, her ankle is not broken but it is severely sprained. I want her in a splint for two weeks and on crutches for no less then a week depending on if the swelling has gone down or not," He continued.

"Other then that, I would recommend taking her to see Doctor Hopper so she can talk to someone about why she started cutting herself and hopefully teach her a better way to deal with her emotions."

"Thank you Doctor." David said feeling a wave or relief that their daughter was okay.

"You're welcome. If you wait here the nurse will bring her out to you in just a moment. She is putting the splint on Emma's ankle. As far as pain goes, Advil should do fine." Doctor Wale said handing them Emma's discharge papers.

"Thank you again, have a good night," Snow said

"Thank you, you as well" Doctor Wale said as he left the couple in the waiting room to attend to his next patient.

_OUAT_

After a few minutes the nurse came wheeling Emma out in a wheel chair and holding a pair of crutches that Emma would be using for the next week. After stopping by the checkout desk the nurse and Snow waiting with Emma while David went and pulled the truck around.

Emma was so tired after a very long and emotional day that she was fighting to stay awake sitting in the wheel chair.

When David pulled around he jumped out and helped Snow in before picking Emma up and placing her next to Snow so that she could put her leg up.

Then David thanked the nurse before coming back around to the drivers seat and driving his little family back to their home.

It was only a few minutes before Emma was passed out on her mother's lap for exhaustion.

When they arrived home David went around and picked Emma up in his arms while Snow opened all the doors for him. They got their daughter into her bed and dressed in her pajamas. Emma didn't even stir she was so exhausted.

"Should we leave the crutches next to her bed?" Snow asked Charming

"I think it would be better to leave them outside the door so we can give them to her in the morning but that way she can't get out of bed until we are up. Although knowing her I'm sure she'll try and find a way to walk anyway." David said chuckling at the stubbornness of his daughter that reflected so much of her mother.

"Good idea." Snow said with a grin.

Once Emma was all tucked in the couple stood at the foot of their daughter's bed holding one another. They were so grateful to finally have their entire family together after 15 years.

They knew that raising a teenager was not going to be easy but they also knew that they did not have to do it alone.

They looked at the clock that read 2:00am and decided that they too needed their rest. So, they made their way to their room and quickly fell asleep in each others arms.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 –

 **Today is the day of the town meeting. Will Snow and Charming still make Emma go or will they let her stay home since her accident last night? PLEASE REVIEW!**

Emma woke up feeling terrible. Her ankle was throbbing along with her head.

She swung her feet over to the side of the bed but her crutches were nowhere to be found. Her parents must have moved them in an attempt to keep her in bed.

It was still strange to consider David and Mary Margret her parents but it was starting to grow on her.

Emma decided that she didn't care if she wasn't supposed to walk on her ankle or not, she was going to get down stairs by herself. However, she underestimated how bad she had sprained her ankle.

As soon as Emma went to take a step she immediately fell to the ground with a thud.

Within seconds she could hear her parents running to her room. There was nothing she could do to make this situation look like anything but what it was, a jailbreak.

David came busting in the door immediately scanning the room to find his daughter crumpled on the floor looking as helpless as he had ever seen her. It took everything in him to not burst out laughing at his little girl sitting on the floor with her arms folded.

"I'm going to guess that you tried to walk?" David asked his daughter

"Maybe…" Emma said barely making eye contact with David.

"Lets get you back up on the bed shall we?" David asked as he reached down and scooped his daughter up into his arms and placed her on her bed.

"Where are my crutches?" Emma asked, slightly annoyed that they were nowhere to be found this morning

"We left them outside your door because we knew that you would try and get yourself down the stairs and we didn't want you to bust your head open." David said as he checked to make sure her splint was properly in place.

"I wouldn't have fallen down the stairs," Emma said rolling her eyes.

"You're little stunt this morning doesn't support your claim Em," David said slightly laughing at the memory of Emma on the floor.

"I only ended up on the floor because I didn't have my crutches" Emma fought back feeling that David's assessment was inaccurate.

"Well let's get you down stairs and I'll get you set up on the couch and then I'll make some breakfast for all of us how does that sound?" David said

"Alright, but where are my crutches?" Emma asked hating feeling helpless.

"I'll bring them down stairs after I get you set up on the couch," David said not wanting a repeat of this morning.

"But how am I going to get down stairs?" Emma asked confused by the whole situation.

"I'll carry you down there!" David exclaimed as he stood up and grabbed Emma up in his arms.

"Dad…" Emma stopped herself, she had never called David dad before.

"It's okay if you want to call me Dad Emma. I am your dad after all" David was so overwhelmed with joy when he heard Emma call him dad but he knew that he couldn't push it with her.

"I think I might try it out, if you don't care," Emma said sheepishly

"It's perfectly fine with me" David beamed and kissed Emma's head. "Now let's get you down stairs shall we?"

Emma couldn't help but smile, even though she would never admit it, she loved having her parents dote on her. She had never had anyone who cared for her enough to do that before.

Once they got down stairs Snow had already come down and began to make breakfast. "Well good morning you two!" she said as she saw David carrying their daughter down the stairs. "Emma are you okay after your fall?" She asked.

"How did you know I fell?" Emma asked confused how her mother had known she had fell since she hadn't come in the room.

"I figured that you tried to walk without your crutches. Was I right?" Snow asked with a slight smile in her voice that told the pair she didn't necessarily need an answer.

"Yep! We've got a stubborn one Snow" David said as he kissed her head before heading to the couch.

David sat Emma on the couch and propped her leg before he went to the bathroom to grab more gauze and ointment to re-bandage Emma's arm.

Emma felt a little uncomfortable as her father began to unwrap the gauze because this would be the first time he would see the cuts from last night along with the scars from her cuts she had done when she was in foster care.

David did all he could to not look shocked but his heart broke as he began to see the cuts and scars that covered his daughters arm. "It's okay Emma" he said trying to reassure her that she didn't need to worry.

"I'm sorry" Emma said under her breath.

David stopped cleaning the cuts and looked at Emma. "You don't have to be sorry Emma. We love you scars and all. The only thing we ask is that you talk to us when you're upset. We hate that you feel you need to hurt yourself."

Emma was fighting off tears and simply shook her head yes before David leaned up and wrapped her in his arms coddling her head in his hand.

After a moment David released his daughter and wiped a tear off of her cheek before returning to finish wrapping up her arm.

Once he was done he kissed the top of her head and handed her the remote before joining his wife in the kitchen to help finish up breakfast.

_OUAT_

Once breakfast was done David helped Emma use her crutches to get to the kitchen table and propped her leg on a chair.

"Emma how are you feeling this morning?" Snow asked

"I'm sore but I'm okay" Emma said taking a bite of her French toast.

"Good! Just make sure that you take it easy today, you only need to be using your crutches when necessary. Otherwise you need to keep it propped and iced if you want to start walking on it next week" Snow reminded her daughter hoping that the incentive or walking would keep her on the couch.

Emma took a sip of her hot chocolate with cinnamon and decided now was a better time then ever to bring up her staying home during the town meeting this afternoon. Just as she was about to bring it up the phone rang and David left the table.

"Hey Leroy….yea….we'll be there….thanks for reserving that for us….see you then" David said as he hung up the phone.

"Leroy reserved the town hall for 1pm for the town meeting and he and the dwarfs are spreading the word so that everyone knows." David said walking back to the table.

"About that," Emma interrupted "Is it okay if I stay home from that today? I mean, it would be a lot for me to go there with my ankle how it is" Emma was trying to be logical so that her parents would at least try and see it from her point of view.

"Emma, we talked about this" Snow replied in a warning tone.

"I know we did but that was before I hurt my ankle" Emma reminded her mother.

"Emma, we already made our decision about this." David chimed in in his no nonsense tone. "We also made our decision on your punishment for sneaking out last night. We warned you yesterday afternoon that if you snuck out again you would be punished but you went ahead and snuck out again."

"Dad, Mom I'm so sorry! I promise that I won't do it again and I mean it this time!" Emma pleaded. She also knew that her calling them Mom and Dad would throw them off their game.

"Emma, as much as I love hearing you call me Dad that doesn't change our decision. For the next two weeks you don't have any friends over and you don't go to any friends house. You are only permitted to go to school and come straight home and that is it." David said sternly, hating that he had to punish Emma.

Snow was still a little shocked that she had heard Emma call her mom and her heart was melting but she knew she had to back charming up in this decision no matter how much she wanted to take it all back.

"And you are going to the town meeting today not as a punishment but as a protection for you. Like we told you, we don't know where Regina is and it is our job as your parents to keep you safe and right now that means we can't leave you alone in case she tries to hurt you." David reiterated trying to make Emma understand.

Emma slumped in her chair and crossed her arms across her body. She understood why her parents wanted her to go with them but that did not change the fact that she didn't want to go.

Snow got up and started clearing the table with David's help before he turned to Emma and helped her get up to her room so she could get ready. He just hoped that Emma had some of the fight taken out of her after last night.

_OUAT_

After helping Emma upstairs David came back down to help Snow finish up the last of the dishes. Snow turned around to make sure that Emma was safely upstairs before she allowed a girlish grin to spread all over her face.

"She called me mom!" she exclaimed, trying not to let her voice travel up to Emma's room.

"She called me Dad this morning! But the little brat was using that to try and get us to change our minds" David said with a smirk knowing that his daughter never would have called them mom and dad in that moment had she not been trying to manipulate them.

"I was so glad that you were the one who stayed strong on that one because I was ready to give in to her!" Snow said walking over and wrapping her arms around Charming's waist.

"Oh I know! I saw the look on your face! But I almost gave in too but if I have learned anything about Emma, it's that if you give an inch she will take a mile," Charming smiled at Snow.

"She gets that from you, you know" Charming said smirking looking down at his wife in his arms.

"You take that back!" Snow exclaimed.

"No way! Her stubbornness is all you!" Charming teased

"Alright, alright. Well I think it's time we head up stairs and get ready for this meeting." Snow said, reluctant to leave this moment.

"I guess you're right," Charming said kissing the top of Snow's head and the two headed up to their room.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 –

 **Who will they see at the town meeting? How is grumpy Emma going to handle the meeting? I would love to hear any suggestions that you guys have of where this story should go!**

Once they were all set to go, Charming helped Emma down the stairs and into the truck. Thankfully there had been no snow yet in storybrook because trying to maneuver crutches on ice would have only made it worse for Emma.

Once the arrived at the town hall the pair helped set Emma up in the front by where they would be sitting with her foot elevated.

"Do I have to sit right up front?" Emma wined, she hated being the center of attention and having to sit in the front row with her foot up was definitely going to draw attention.

"Emma, no one is going to be looking at you. This just makes it so we can keep an eye on you and keep Regina from sneaking in the back to try and harm you." Snow explained to her daughter as she handed her a book.

"This sucks" Emma pouted.

As the meeting got started August snuck up the side of the seats and sat behind Emma.

"Hey Emma, sorry about last night," He whispered so as not to be heard.

"It's okay, I think my dad got over it, but it was pretty funny to see him so flustered" Emma giggled.

"So you're calling David Dad now?" August inquired

"I'm trying it out. I've never called anyone dad before that I really remember" Emma explained

"So what happened to you?" August asked, not knowing what had happened after his father picked him up.

"Well, after your dad picked you up I got mad and stormed off to my room and used the sheet I used to pull you up to sneak out and when I was in the woods my foot caught a root and sprained my ankle." Emma said regretting that decision.

"That sucks" August replied.

"Yea, so I got grounded for the next two weeks which is so not fair. I think that my ankle would be punishment enough. I have to uses crutches for a week!" Emma complained to her friend.

Just as she finished her sentence Emma noticed her father looking over at her and August and glaring at the young man.

"You might wanna leave, my dad doesn't look like he's too happy that you're talking to me" Emma nodded toward her dad which caused August stomach to drop.

"Yea that's probably a good idea," August agreed as he saw charming still staring at him.

"I'll talk to you later August," Emma said as the young man snuck to the back of the room.

_OUAT_

"Did you see August talking to Emma during the meeting?" Charming asked snow as they went through and picked up trash trying to be quiet enough so Emma couldn't hear them.

"Yes, what's wrong with that?" Snow asked slightly amused at how protective her husband was.

"I don't like that kid. He snuck into her room and now he comes and talks to her after we had told him to leave her alone. He is trouble that's all I'm saying." Charming concluded feeling very justified in what he said.

"I can hear you guys" said Emma from the front of the room sounding annoyed that her parents were talking about her and August basically right in front of her.

"Sorry Em," David said as he shrugged at his wife.

"Can we go now?" Emma asked coming up to them on her crutches.

"Emma you need to be sitting" Snow said concerned for the swelling in Emma's ankle.

"I've been sitting this whole time, I'm bored and I'm hungry" Emma wined. She was ready to eat something and then pass out on the couch.

"I think that's everything. I'll grab our coats and then we can stop by grannies and get some food before we head home sound good?" David asked.

"Sounds great honey! I'll go with Emma and start getting her in the truck while you lock up here" Snow said ushering their crippled daughter toward the door.

"Alright I'll be right out" Charming said turning back to the soundboard to turn off the main power to the system.

Just as charming was walking out of the town hall he heard yelling coming from outside the building. He immediately took off running

When Charming got outside he saw Snow standing in front of Emma to guard her from Regina. He immediately joined her.

"What do you want Regina?" David asked through gritted teeth

"I just want to talk to our little resident savior is all" Regina said with a grin.

"That's NOT going to happen" Snow said stepping up next to her husband.

Emma stood behind her parents confused at what exactly was going on. Emma had heard about Regina and knew that she wasn't exactly the nicest person but she could tell by her parents reaction there was a lot more that they weren't telling her.

"Regina you need to leave, now." David demanded. "You will never be allowed to talk to our daughter so you can stop wasting your time."

"I will talk to her whither you like it or not David. You can't protect her forever" Regina said making eye contact with a very confused Emma.

With that Regina turned and walk off.

"Are you guys okay?" David asked making sure Regina did not hurt is wife or his daughter.

"I'm fine" Snow answered immediately turning to her daughter.

Emma stood there looking completely baffled at what just happened.

"Emma?" Charming asked knowing that his daughter was not okay

"Yea…sorry, I'm fine." Emma said coming back to reality

"Emma lets get you in the truck, you're leg needs to be elevated" Snow said as she started opening the passenger door.

Once the two had Emma in the truck they walked to the back of it to talk where Emma couldn't hear them.

"Snow what happened?" David asked

"I was about to open the door and help Emma in when Regina came up and started asking Emma questions." Snow explained. "I saw Emma begin to get upset and suddenly she had magic shoot out from her hands and it almost caused her to fall to the ground if I hadn't caught her. Regina saw it and began to pressure Emma more."

"I'm guessing that is when the yelling I heard started?" David asked trying to piece together what had happened.

"Yes, I stepped in front of Emma and began to do all the talking for her and that's when you came out" Snow finished her story all the while hoping that the magic that Emma had experienced wasn't going to harm her.

"Alright, I think we need to go talk to blue and find out if there is some sort of protection spell that we can place on Emma so that Regina can't touch her." David said hating that he had not walked them out to the truck.

"I agree, but right now we need to get Emma home and try to explain to her what is going on" Snow said, knowing the conversation would not be easy.

"Speaking of Emma we should probably get into the truck before she tries to come out here and find out what we're talking about" David said grabbing snow's head and kissing the top of it.

Once the two got into the truck Emma eyed both of them knowing that they were talking about her but she was still trying to process what had happened and did not want to ask any questions.

_OUAT_

Knowing that her parents were going to want to talk about what had happened Emma did her best to make a break for the stairs once David opened the front door but with no luck.

"Hey Em, we need to talk to you before you go up to your room" David said seeing her crutch toward the stairs.

"I also need to ice your ankle" Snow added walking over to the freezer to grab the bag of frozen Peas.

"Guys, I'm really tired. Can we do this later?" Emma begged

"Sorry Em, we really need to do this now" David said knowing that this conversation would not be an easy one.

"Fine" Emma said rolling her eyes. She crutched over the couch and flopped down on it just so her parents knew how annoyed she was with them.

Snow and David ignored their daughters small tantrum and headed over to the couch where snow propped up Emma's leg and placed the frozen peas on it to bring down the swelling.

"Emma, we know that you probably have a lot of questions about what happened today with Regina and well…the magic that came out of you." David said wanting to cut right to the chase.

"Magic?" Emma questioned. She had heard about magic in storybook's and August and mentioned It once or twice but her actually using magic? This was something she would have thought they were making up if she hadn't experienced it herself.

"Yes Emma. You were born with magic inside of you." David said

"Regina knows that and she knew that if she got you upset that you would react and I'm sure she was hoping that you would react with magic." Snow added

"Unfortunately you did so now she is positive you have magic and she is most likely going to try and get you alone to try and exploit that." David explained as she watched Emma's face begin to get more and more confused.

"So I have some sort of magic inside of me that causes me to shoot sparklers out of my hands?" Emma questions. She really didn't understand what was going on.

"Honestly, we aren't sure. But we are going to go and talk to Blue," Snow started

"She means mother superior, she was a fairy in our land and she knows about magic" David explained knowing that Emma would not know who blue is.

"And until then Em, we need you to work with us and help us keep you safe." David said pleading with his daughter to work with them and stop fighting them.

Emma's head was swimming. Magic? Fairies? This was only day two and she was feeling that same overwhelming feeling she did last night. Unfortunately for Emma there was no way she was going to be sneaking out with her ankle the way it was.

"Emma?" David asked again.

"Yea, sure, whatever. Can I go to my room now?" Emma asked needing time to process without her parents staring at her.

"Of course" Snow said "Do you need us to help you get up there?"

"No I'm fine." Emma replied desperately wanting to get out of there.

_OUAT_

"Well that couldn't have gone any worse" Snow commented as soon as she heard Emma's door shut.

"I mean she didn't yell so we have that going for us" David commented trying to lighten the mood.

"David, our daughter now has magic that she has no idea how to control!" Snow said trying to keep her voice down so Emma didn't hear them yelling.

"Snow, she is going to be fine. I'm sure blue has a remedy for all this and can help Emma learn how to use her magic." David said still trying to always find the positive.

"David, I understand you are trying to be positive but I think at this time we need to also be realistic" Snow said sitting down next to him

"Snow, I understand. I am just as scared for our daughter as you are. But there is nothing we can do right at this moment." David tried to explain

"I'm going to call Blue and see if she can come over" Snow said standing up and walking into the kitchen.

David just put his face in his hands. He loved his wife and her determinedness to help their daughter but David was secretly worried about how Emma would react but did not want to let his wife worry about one more thing.

"She will be over here in a few minutes" Snow said coming back.

"I'm going to go check on Emma" David said getting up. He knew that he was going to need to explain to Emma why blue was there and prepare her that blue was going to do so that she had an understanding.

Snow watched her husband go up to their daughters room feeling the tension between them. But Snow knew in her heart that she was doing the right thing wither David agreed or not.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 –

 **Time for the Daddy Charming moment I have been waiting for! Charming goes to talk to Emma before Blue comes to the house and also brings up how August was talking to her at the town meeting.**

"Em?" David asked knocking on the door before entering Emma's room. "Hey Princess how are you doing?"

"Don't call me that" Emma said rolling her eyes

"What? Em? It's just your name" Charming said with a smirk

"Dad, I meant Princess" Emma said slightly amused by her fathers sense of humor.

"Oh that, well I mean, you are a princess after all!" He said sitting next to his daughter on the bed.

"Yea yea. So why are you up here?" Emma asked seeing the way her dad was fidgeting she could tell that he wanted to talk about something.

"I'm that obvious uh?" David asked smiling at how perceptive his daughter was.

"Pretty much!" Emma said with a slight giggle.

"Alright kiddo, here it is. I don't like you talking to August" David decided that this would be a good way to segue into what he really came up to talk to her about.

"No kidding! If looks could kill August would have been a greasy spot on the wall today." Emma said remembering how her father had glared at August when he came to talk to her during the meeting.

"Of course! No guy is good enough for my little girl, especially one who is okay with sneaking into your room without me knowing." David said in a fake stern voice.

"David…" Emma started

"Hey! It's Dad to you little missy!" David said flicking her nose.

"Alright fine DDAAAADDDD" Emma dragged it out. "August and I are just friends. You have nothing to worry about okay?"

"I will be the judge on that!" David said sitting up and putting his hands on his hips.

Emma laughed at how over protective her dad was getting but inside she absolutely loved it!

"Alright Emma, now to what I really came up here for" David said, hating that he had to cut to the point. Unfortunately he had heard the front door open and knew he only had a few minutes.

"I figured you had something else. Alright, lay it on me" Emma said bracing herself for what her father had to say.

"Mother Superior or the Blue Ferry as she was known in our land is over here to try and give you a few pointers when it comes to magic as well and see if there is any sort of spell that she can cast that will keep you safe from Regina."

David then sat back and waiting for Emma's response knowing that the likely hood of a positive reaction was very unlikely.

"Dad I'm not ready for that. I don't want to experience that again." Emma said and she felt her heart began to race.

"Emma, I understand that this is uncomfortable for you but we would rather you learned to control it so you don't hurt yourself" Or anyone else David thought to himself but didn't want to say to his daughter.

"David I'm not going to go down there for mother blue or whoever she is to place a spell on me and cause me to shoot more sparklers all over the place. Not happening." Emma said as she sat back and crossed her arms.

"Emma you're misunderstanding what I'm saying. The protection spell is not going to do anything to you but it will do something to Regina if she tries to hurt you again." David explained

"Alright fine but I don't want to do anything else to do with magic and you can't make me." Emma said in a no nonsense type of tone that let David know that this was a battle he wasn't going to win tonight.

"You're right, I can't make you use your magic. But I can make you come down stairs so we can talk about how to best protect you." David said letting Emma know who was in charge.

Emma stared at her father choosing her words wisely knowing that David would not hesitate to tack on another week or two of punishment. She decided that she would do her best to go along with what he was asking.

"Alright fine. I will go down there and we can talk about this spell which I am NOT comfortable with but I will not do anything that has to do with magic." Emma said knowing that she was coming very close to crossing the line.

"Emma, you better watch your mouth." David said feeling that Emma was getting a little too mouthy for his liking

"You don't get to tell me what you will or will not do. However, I understand that you have been through a lot so I will not make you work on your magic right now. But, eventually you will. Do you understand?" David said in a low voice

"Fine" Emma said

"No, you say 'Yes Sir'" David said not liking the attitude he was getting

"Yes Sir" Emma grumbled

"Alright. Lets go down stairs. Your mother and Blue are waiting for us" David said before reaching over and grabbing Emma's crutches for her.

_OUAT_

"Blue!" Snow exclaimed opening the door

"Hello Snow, I rushed over as soon as you called. What exactly is going on?" Blue asked having not gotten a lot of information before she came

Snow explained what had happened and how they wanted to find a way to protect Emma as well as get her some training on how to control her magic.

"Well I can help you with the protection Spell but training Emma in magic is going to be a process but she has to be willing." Blue explained.

"Well then lets just start with the protection spell. I have lost her once and I won't let it happen again." Snow said

"Alright, let me go ahead and mix some things together here." Blue Said but then quickly turned back to Snow "Is Emma here? I need her here to cast the spell"

"Yes she is upstairs with David, I will go and get her once you are all set so he has time to explain to Emma why you're here." Snow said meeting up the stairs but seeing no sign of either of them.

"Snow, what happened exactly when Emma used her magic?" Blue asked

"Basically, the way she describes it, is it was sparklers coming out of her hands. She would have fallen over had I not been there to catch her." Snow explained.

"Alright, that's pretty typical. But the good news is she has light magic and not dark magic." Blue sounded relieved.

Snow was about to begin to ask more questions when she heard Emma's crutches on the stairs.

"Hello Emma, my name is Blue." Blue said introducing herself

"Hi, I would say my name but you already know it." Emma said not sure how to handle the situation.

"That's alright." Blue said turning back to her potion.

"Why don't you take a seat on the couch Em" David instructed as he walked over to his wife to find out what Blue had said.

"So what are we looking at?" David asked Snow.

She explained what Blue had said with a sense of relief that their daughter was going to be safe.

"I think that's best, Emma is in no way ready to try magic again" David said remembering how obstinate she had been upstairs.

"That bad uh?" Snow said reading her husbands facial expressions

"Worse. But I basically told her that she doesn't have to try it today but she is not allowed to tell us what she will and won't do." David said. "Have I mentioned how much she reminds me of you?"

Snow jokingly hit David's arm. "Hey!"

"I thought I would never meet anyone as stubborn as you until Emma came to live with me. Pretty sure you have met your match" David said with a smirk.

The two were interrupted by Blue informing them that the spell as ready.

"Basically what this will do is keep Regina from being able to place a finger on Emma while she is wearing this bracelet. No bracelet, no protection, understand?" Blue said.

"We understand" Snow said. "Emma?"

"Yep, basically I have a tracking anklet, wonderful" Emma said in the most sarcastic tone she could manage.

"Emma" David said in a low voice

"Sorry" Emma replied but inside she didn't mean it.

Blue poured the potion on the bracelet and placed it on Emma.

"You're all set. If Emma is interested in learning more about her magic I am more than willing to help." Blue said as she gathered her things.

"That won't be happening" Emma chimed in glaring at the bracelet

"Emma what did I say upstairs?" David said getting frustrated with Emma's attitude after their conversation.

"We will definitely be in contact with you soon Blue. Thank you so much for coming" Snow said as she walked Blue to the door. "Have a good night"

"Alright Emma, you heard Blue. You need to wear that bracelet until we can lock Regina away and find a way to take away her magic." Snow said.

"So does this mean that I can finally go out and be with my friends?" Emma said hoping that the fact she was grounded was forgotten.

"You're still grounded young lady, so for the next two weeks you cannot be with any friends." David said knowing Emma was trying to get out of her punishment.

"But" Snow interrupted, "After that we can revisit this topic and see what we can allow you to do while still keeping you safe."

Emma relaxed a little. Although she wasn't happy about the fact that she wasn't able to get out of her punishment, she hoped her mom would keep to her word and loosen the reigns a little.

"Alright, who wants to watch a movie?" Snow said trying to lighten the mood.

"ME! Let's watch 'While you were sleeping'!" Emma said pointing to the DVD that was under the coffee table. "It's really funny! I promise you guys will like it!"

"Sounds good to me. I'll make some hot chocolate and pop some popcorn" David said heading toward the kitchen.

As Emma sat on the couch watching her parents busy in the kitchen she thought to herself that this is what having a real family must be like. She definitely wasn't used to it but she felt that she could if she would allow herself to accept their love.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 –

 **Grounding is over and Emma can finally walk around without the splint or crutches. Now that she has some freedom, what kind of trouble will our girl get into next?**

Emma's two weeks of grounding had felt like an eternity. To make things worse, she had had her mother fusing over her because of her ankle but she had went to Doctor Wale and gotten the final okay that her ankle was in fact good to go.

The good thing about everything though was that she had gotten closer to her parents. She even started calling them Mom and Dad on a regular basis.

A few days after the town meeting School had started back up which Emma was not excited about except for the fact that she could see her friends. However, her mom and dad were still being overly protective.

Snow had to be into school early being she was a teacher so David would drive Emma to school every day on his way to work at the town's new sheriff and then Emma would have to hang out in her mom's room until she had finished for the day and then go home.

She would have much preferred to ride the bus but her parents didn't feel it was safe yet since Regina was still out there. The only good thing was that she got a good chunk of her homework done while waiting for her mom to finish up for the day.

Emma woke up remembering that this was her first day of freedom! Her first order or business was to make plans so that she didn't have to hang out with her mom after school.

Emma grabbed her phone that Snow and David had gotten for her and started texting Neal and August to see if either of them could hang out.

To Emma's delight Neal got back to her right away and they made plans to go and have hot chocolate at Grannies after school and work on homework together.

Emma just hoped that her parents would be okay with her plans. She quickly got dressed and headed down stairs to find out what the yummy smell was coming from the kitchen.

"Hey there sunshine!" David said seeing his daughter bouncing down the stairs

"Hey Dad!" Emma said plopping down on one of the bar stools in the kitchen. "Where's mom?"

"I'm right here" Snow said coming around the corner and walking over to kiss her husband.

"I wanted to let you know I have plans after school so I won't be coming to your room." She said hoping that her mom would just agree without taking the time to listen to what she had said.

"What are your plans?" David asked hoping that it had nothing to do with August.

"Me and Neal are just going to hang out and do homework at grannies!" Emma said hoping that her dad wouldn't object.

David and Snow had a silent conversation with their eyes. Emma hated when they did that because she could never tell what they were saying.

"Emma I know your grounding just ended so we have no problem with you hanging out with Neal, but we don't want you out and about without one of us just yet." Snow tried to explain in the best way she could

"So you and Neal can hang out with your mom after school in her classroom or, I'll come pick you two up and you can hang out at the station. It's your pick." David said in a kind but firm way.

"Then what is the point of this stupid bracelet?" Emma pushed back

"Emma, watch your tone. We have you wearing that bracelet so that if Regina does try to hurt you she can't. But we aren't going to let you be a sitting duck for her either" David said sternly

"Fine, I guess we'll hang out in mom's room. But I want to go on the record with saying this is totally unfair!" Emma said, frustrated with her parents answer.

"Perfect! I look forward to seeing you both after school!" Snow said kissing the top of Emma's head. "I'm off but I'll see you later!"

"Love you!" Charming said as Snow went out the door. "Well since you're up early, do you wanna head out so we can stop by grannies and grab a hot chocolate?"

David knew Emma couldn't turn down a hot chocolate.

"With Cinnamon?" Emma asked

"Of course" Charming said, hoping that it would help to lessen her frustration with the fact she wouldn't get to hang out with Neal like she had wanted.

"Sounds Great! Let me grab my backpack" Emma said taking off up the stairs.

Charming took this time to finish cleaning up from breakfast.

_OUAT_

As charming pulled up to the school to drop Emma off, he noticed Snow standing outside the school.

Snow began to walk up to the car as Charming rolled down the window.

"Hey Snow, what's going on?" Charming asked with a bit of concern in his voice.

"Can I talk to you?" She said looking straight at charming.

"Of course, Emma stay in the car please." Charming said rolling up the windows and locking them so Emma couldn't roll her window down.

"What's going on Snow?" Charming asked as his concern was validated by the look in Snow's eyes.

"August is missing. His father called the school wondering if he had shown up early." Snow said allowing some of the panic to escape into her voice.

"I haven't gotten a call Snow…" David said thinking back to this morning when he was checking his messages.

"He is headed your way now, I called him once I got the news and told him you had Emma and asked him not to call you." Snow said "I'm really worried that he may contact Emma and encourage her to run off with him."

"Or Regina will use him to get to Emma" Charming finished her thought. "I'll keep her with me today so that we can keep an eye on her."

"Thank you! I have to get back inside but please let me know if you find out anything." Snow said wrapping her arms around her husband and kissing him passionately

"I love you, please take care of yourself" Charming said holding onto his wife for another moment.

"I always do" Snow said looking up at her husband.

"Alright, now it's my turn to go tell our daughter she doesn't get to go to school but instead gets to spend the day sitting at the station." David said, not sure how Emma was going to take that.

"Oh! Before I forget! I went and got Emma's homework so at least she has something to do and she won't be behind." Snow said handing Charming a folder with Emma's name on it.

"Does she need any of her books?" Charming said, wanting to make sure he could combat all of Emma's possible excuses.

"And here are all the books from her locker" Snow said having thought the same thing.

"You are wonderful!" Charming said kissing his wife one more time before getting back in the car. "Well, here goes nothing."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 –

 **Time to see how Emma will react to her friend disappearing**

Charming kissed his wife and headed for the drivers seat. What he and Snow were unaware of is that Emma had reached over and unlocked the windows and rolled down the back passenger window so she could hear what they were saying.

Before her dad got back to the car she put everything back to the way it was and began to text Neal to start to devise a plan.

"Hey Princess," David said getting back in the car

"What's wrong?" Emma said looking at her dad with a straight face so he didn't know she already knew what he was going to say.

"What makes you think something is wrong?" David said

"You never call me Princess unless something's wrong." Emma said hoping that she had covered herself.

"I do not, but either way, yes there is something wrong," Charming said still a little curious to how is daughter knew something was wrong.

"Emma, August has gone missing. His dad can't find him and he isn't at the school so I'm going to have to go find him. I'm going to ask Red if she can keep an eye on you while you work on your homework at Grannies." David explained to her.

"Alright Dad, I can do that. Did mom give you my homework?" Emma asked hoping the fact she was being agreeable wasn't giving her away.

"Yea she did and she got all your books out of your locker. What is up with you?" David asked.

"What do you mean what's up? My friend is gone, I want you to find him." Emma said still doing everything she could to keep a straight face.

"Alright, I'm not trying to question you it's just, you're not normally this easy going." David said still curious of what was going through his daughters head.

"Well I'm trying to turn over a new leaf dad" Emma said with a smile feeling that she had pulled off her little stunk rather well.

David called Red and she agreed to keep an eye on Emma while David went out to look for August.

"Emma, get your homework done while I'm gone and I'll come get you as soon as I can" David said as he pulled up to grannies.

"I will! Bye Dad!" Emma said running into grannies

David then headed straight to the station to meet up with Gepetto.

_OUAT_

Emma immediately started devising a plan to sneak past Red as soon as she got settled into a booth. She really wished she could call Neal but he was stuck in school

She knew she was not going to be able to sit at grannies all day not knowing where August was. Emma began to watch Red closing trying to figure out the best time for her to sneak out the back door.

However, she knew that she would need something to show her parents so she tried to get as much of her homework done, not well, but done so that her parents had one less thing to be upset about.

Once she rushed through her final assignment she looked up to see Red going into the back.

"I'm going to the bathroom" Emma yelled

"Okay" Red yelled back

At that Emma ran out the back door hoping that Red didn't hear the difference between the back door and the front door.

Once outside Emma immediately ran toward the station hoping she could get close enough to see something that would give her any clue as to where to start looking for August.

This is the moment that Emma wished she had access to a car. David had started teaching her how to drive being that her 16th birthday was coming up and she would be able to get her license.

As she got closer she snuck behind the patrol car when she heard the door open. "We'll go talk to Regina, if anyone's going to know anything it's going to be here" Emma could hear David saying to Gepetto.

As soon as the patrol car started to pull away Emma did her best to get out of sight hoping her father would not be looking in the rear view mirror.

Emma began to think through her options. She knew her parents did not want her anywhere near Regina but if her dad said that is who would know something about August, she had to try.

She also remembered the protection spell that Blue had placed on her bracelet so that she was safe from Regina. How dangerous could she be anyway?

Once the patrol car was far enough down the road Emma started to head toward where she knew Regina lived.

Once she got close enough to see the patrol car outside of Regina house, Emma tried to find someplace where she could hear but stay hidden. She found the perfect spot behind a hedge that separated Regina's yard from her neighbors.

Emma could hear what she only assumed was the voice of her father but it was a tone she had never heard him like that before.

"Regina I know that you did something to him! Now tell us where he's at!" David yelled.

"If I knew where that stupid puppet was I would tell you but I haven't seen him" Regina bit back

"So why don't I believe you?" David retorted

"Until you have some sort of proof that I touched that wooden lie detector don't come back here" Regina spat at David

"Believe me, this isn't the last you'll see me. But if you hurt that boy you will pay for it. Come on Gepetto." David said turning and storming back to the cruiser.

Regina stood on her porch with an evil smile

Once the cruiser took off Emma made a b-line to the front door. Her heart was racing so fast she didn't even realize Regina had opened the door and was standing in front of her.

"What…well hello there miss Swan" Regina said as a smile sprawled across her face.

Before she could even saying anything, Emma was distracted by a noise behind her

"EMMA!" David yelled storming up the walk way

"Dad?" Emma said turning around confused at what he was doing there

"Get in the car now." He said walking up and placing his hands on Emma's shoulders and turning her around so that he placed himself between his daughter and Regina.

He stared Regina down for a moment before turning and following his daughter to the patrol car. He opened the back door and shut it making sure that there was no way she did not get in the car.

Emma knew that this was not going to be a fun conversation.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 –

 **Our Emma really knows how to put herself in harms way but thankfully Daddy Charming is there to swoop in and save the day. Unfortunately he also has to be the one to lay down the law.**

Emma was sitting in the back of the patrol car in silence. She knew that this time she had crossed a line. Sneaking out was one thing. Going and trying to talk to the same woman that they are trying to protect you from was a whole other level.

Emma decided she might as well break the silence. "Dad…"

"Emma…not now" David said in a very stern voice

Emma sat back a little frightened by her father's reaction. The patrol car pulled up to the school to Emma's utter confusion. David put the car in park and walked around to let Emma out.

"Out" David said as he opened the door. "Obviously I can't trust you to be at Grannies so you're going to go in here and sit in your mother's classroom where she can keep an eye on you." David said sternly

"If I hear you trying ANYTHING while you are with your mother you're not going to want to see how I react do you understand?" David said as his face began to turn read

Emma was legitimately scared in this moment and simply replies "Yes Sir"

"Good. Now, lets go inside so that I can be sure you made it to your mothers classroom." David said placing his hand on Emma's back to guide her inside.

_OUAT_

"I'm sorry about that Gepetto" David said returning to the car.

"It's perfectly understandable. I will be having much the same reaction when I find my son even though he is 18" Gepetto said in a frustrated voice.

"I don't blame you. Why do kids continually put themselves in harms way? I honestly don't get it!" David said exasperated.

"Nither do I" Gepetto said in a hopeless tone

"I mean, the only reason I do it is because I love her so dang much!" David said "How hard is it for them to just simply do what you tell them to do so that you can do our job as their parents?!"

"I agree. Unfortunately they do not see the need to listen all the time and so they do not." Gepetto responded understanding exactly how David was feeling.

"Alright. Well the next thing we need to do is head to the woods and see if we can find any prints or signs of him and where he was headed. If you would like I can drop you back off at home so you can be there if he does decide to come home." David said

"That may be a good idea. But you promise to call me when you hear anything yea?" Gepetto said, knowing that David may get more done without him there.

"Of course! And you call me if he comes home so that way we know where he is" David responded smiling at the old man as they bonded over their rebellious children.

_OUAT_

Emma sat pouting in the back of Snow's classroom staring blankly at the book in front of you. Her homework was still at Grannies so she had nothing she could work on.

Thankfully by the time her father had found her the school day was almost over so she only had to sit through one class but she still had to sit and wait for her mother to finish up at the end of the day and she wasn't really sure if her mother would lecture her or ignore her.

When Snow's last class left for the day Snow finally acknowledged her daughter. "Emma, help me pick up the room please" Snow said in a very flat voice. Emma could tell she was trying not to react to what Emma had done.

"Yes Mam" Emma replied not wanting to rock the boat any more then she had today.

Once Snow was done for the day she and Emma got in her car and got home to find Emma's homework sitting outside their apartment. Emma had never been happier to see homework in her life.

"Emma take your homework and go sit at the kitchen table and work on it please" Snow instructed.

Emma could feel the tension just beneath the surface that let her know her mother was not happy with her but she figured she was probably waiting for David to get home.

Emma did as she was told and went through and redid all her homework to the standard she knew Snow would expect from her. She knew that her homework was the least of their worries at the moment but she knew that if, once the situation was resolved they saw she didn't do her homework properly they would punish her on top of the punishment she knew was coming.

_OUAT_

David, after going into the woods found August smoking a cigar and playing a guitar. He then called Gepetto and let him know where is son is. Since he is 18 he was not able to bring him in but he did write him up for truancy and fined him $100 to try and deter him from pulling this kind of stunt again.

He finally pulled up outside of his house and saw Snow's car in the driveway which he knew mean that Emma was also home. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and allow his anger to subside.

He knew that the only reason he was angry was because he loved Emma so much and wouldn't have been able to live knowing that he wasn't there to protect her. He loved that she wanted to help her friend but he hated that she never put her safety first.

Then again, she does have the blood of two hero's running through her. Charming lost count of the amount of times he put his life on the line for others without thinking twice about his own safety. In a strange way, he now understood how Snow felt when she would panic over his actions.

He pulled all his thoughts together and headed inside where he found Snow working on dinner and Emma working on her homework at the kitchen table. He was glad to see that Snow hadn't let her go up to her room incase she tried to sneak out like she did a few weeks ago.

He walked over and wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her cheek. "Let's go into the other room" he said not wanting to discuss today's events in front of Emma.

Before the two headed off to their room they both looked back at Emma torn about leaving her alone. They decided instead they chose to have their conversation outside on the porch so that way Emma couldn't sneak out the front door. But just to make sure David laid down the law before they stepped out.

"Emma, we are going to go talk about something and you better not move from that chair until we come back do you understand?" David said in the most stern voice he could

"Yes Sir" Emma said looking at the floor.

David hated seeing Emma upset but he knew that this time she had done it to herself.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 –

 **Emma really messed up this time but lets see how the charming's handle this.**

Emma sat at the table staring at her finished homework but not wanting to move a muscle for fear that her parents would think she was trying to sneak out. She hated disappointing her parents but she hoped that they would understand why she snuck out. She couldn't sit at Grannies not knowing what happened to August. Sitting there, she realized she still didn't know where her friend was.

_OUAT_

Snow and Charming stood just outside the door to make sure they could hear Emma if she they needed them.

"Charming what are we going to do with her?!" Snow finally said trying not to yell but failing miserably.

"I know, I know. I didn't come in right away because I was getting out my frustration. It was very stupid what she did." Charming said trying to calm his wife down.

"Charming imagine what would have happened if Red hadn't called you in time!" Snow exclaimed again as tears began to fall down her face.

"We can't go their Snow. What matters is that I did get there in time and she is safe inside our home." David said holding snow close to him while she cried.

"What we need to deal with now is how we are going to address this" David said after a moment knowing that they didn't want to leave Emma alone for too long.

"Can we just lock her in the house till she turns 30?" Snow joked

"I wish, that way at least we would know where she is and that she was safe." David joked back. "But seriously, how do we even begin to punish her?"

"We already grounded her and obviously that had no effect. We could take away TV and her phone but then we won't be able to stay in contact with her." Snow said listing off what came to mind.

"I think we should ground her for three weeks and take away TV" David chimed in. "That way it is harsher then her last punishment being his is a harsher offense"

"Sounds good to me. But Charming I think we need to put in an Alarm System so we can set it at night and it will go off if she tries to open a window or a door. I can't have another day like today where I don't know where she is" Snow said genuinely concerned about trying to keep Emma as safe as possible.

"I'll look into it. I'm also going to have the elves be on Emma duty and keep an eye on her while she is at school so that way you don't have to worry" David said trying to calm Snow's fears.

"Thanks you Charming" She said reaching up and kissing him

"You're welcome! Now let's get inside and have this conversation before we find her half-way out a window. I just remembered that she doesn't know I found August." David said genuinely concerned that she may try something.

They both walked in and could tell Emma had barely moved a single muscle the entire time they had been talking which gave David a sense of relief because she was safe.

"Emma lets go sit in the living room" David said as he and snow headed that way. Emma immediately got up from her seat and headed straight for the couch where she sat right down and didn't move.

"Emma, I want to start off by letting you know August is safe. He had snuck off but I found him and told his dad where he was so you don't need to worry" Charming said. He could see Emma visibly relax knowing that he friend was safe but she was still nervous about what her parents were going to say.

"Now we need to talk about what you did today sneaking off." Snow said

"I'm sorry" Emma said in such a quiet voice the two almost missed it.

"We forgive you Emma" David said putting a hand on her knee. "We love you so much, that's why we're so upset"

Emma looked confused so David continued. "If we didn't care what happened to you, I wouldn't have even come looking for you when Red called me. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to you and I could have done something to stop it"

"Emma we were scared to death when Red called us and said you were missing." Snow added

Emma sat there staring at the floor trying to hold back the tears. No one had ever cared this much about her.

"Emma?" David asked noticing Emma beginning to shake

Emma looked up with tears streaming down her face. David and Snow immediately got up from the coffee table they were sitting on in front of Emma and wrapped their arms around her. They hated seeing Emma upset.

"Emma, it's okay sweetheart" David said stroking her head.

Emma said something but her parents couldn't understand her. "What was that honey?" Snow asked pulling away so she could better hear Emma.

"I've never had anyone who cared for me like this" Emma said wiping away the tears

David and Snows hearts broken even further. They hated thinking that no one was there for their daughter when they couldn't be. Although they knew they had to give her up to give her her best chance, they hated that she had been so damaged by people in her life.

"Emma we will always care about you and care about your safety even when you're an adult. We will always do everything we can to make sure that you're safe and happy and loved" David said taking Emma's hands in his.

"Emma we love you so much! We couldn't be happier that we finally have our whole family together and we want to make sure nothing ruins that." Snow said leaning in.

"I love you guys" Emma busted out wrapping her arms around her parents. They both looked at each other lovingly knowing that something had finally clicked for their daughter.

They allowed the moment to happen and enjoyed their daughters embrace for the time and decided that the other conversation could happen in a little bit but there was no need to rush this moment.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 –

 **Time for the charming's to let Emma know what her punishment is**

After a few minutes David looked at his little family and offered to get them all some Hot Chocolate with cinnamon before they continued with the conversation. Charming had high hopes because Emma finally was starting to understand why they were feeling the way they were.

After everyone had their cocoa David and Snow felt it was time to let Emma know what her punishment was.

"Emma, as much as we are glad that you are sorry for what you did and that you understand why we did what we did we still have to punish you." David explained

"I understand" Emma replied in a meek voice

"You're father and I have talked and we agreed that the best punishment would be being grounded for three weeks and no TV until we say so" Snow said looking at Charming knowing she had changed the TV punishment they had agreed on

David gave snow a look that let her know he caught what she had done but that he was okay with it and that he would have done the same thing.

"So what all does my grounding mean?" Emma asked, she didn't want to push but she also was hoping that she could get them to let her at least have friends over.

"That means you will stay with your mom after school, you will come home and do your homework and maybe we will see how you handle that and maybe you can have a friend over." David said. He really had a soft spot for his little girl that always got the best of him.

"Okay." Emma said happy that they were willing to let her gain their trust back.

"But August is not going to be one of those friends" David chimed in

"You really don't like him do you?" Emma said

"After today, no, no I don't" David said firmly.

"Dad, he really is a good guy" Emma said feeling a little defensive of her friend. "If he wasn't I wouldn't have gone looking for him today"

"Speaking of, what were you thinking going to Regina?" Snow asked a little put out

"Well, I saw dad go to her house and I figured since the blue fairy had put the protection spell on the bracelet I would be safe." Emma said a little squirmy knowing her parents wouldn't be happy with any answer she gave

"You followed me?" David said a little shocked

"Um…yea…I went to the station and hid behind the car and heard you talking about going to Regina for answers so I followed you there and hid in the bushes while you talked to her. When I saw you take off I went up to the door" Emma said. Everything in her wanted to run.

"Emma Ruth…" Snow said

"Well I'm going to be watching over my shoulder more often. I didn't think I was that easy to follow" David said puzzled.

"I mean I had to work at it…" Emma added hoping to make her dad feel a little better. "And you were really upset"

"I'm sorry you heard that Emma" David said remembering how angry he was

"No it's…it's fine" Emma said remembering how scared she was hearing his voice. "I'm going to go to bed now okay?"

"Emma…" David said feeling sorry for making Emma upset

"I'm just tired, it's been a long day" She said heading upstairs.

_OUAT_

Charming leaned over and put his arm around Snow. "I really messed that up. Indefinitely wouldn't have said what I did if I had known that she was there"

"Well you didn't know and I'm sure Regina deserved whatever it is you said" snow said leaning into her husband.

"Still; I hate it that I scared her." Charming said "And then I pushed too hard and caused her to shut down"

"No you didn't Charming. We are still getting to know her" Snow said leaning into David

"I did push too much. I forget sometimes that she can only take so much before she shuts down" Charming said

"Maybe she needs a little push every once in a while" Snow said "Now, lets follow Emma's example and get ourselves to bed. It's been a long day"

Charming kissed Snows head and they both walked to their room.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 –

 **Hope you like it. I'm really feeling inspired right now. And if you like my stuff check out my other story "Waking Up in Storybrook" which is an AU where the Charming's have another daughter who wakes up and doesn't know who they are.**

Emma went to her room as fast as she could knowing that the tears were coming but not wanting her parents to see.

She felt…well she didn't know how she felt. She had never had anyone who cared so much that they were mad at her for not putting her own safety first. In Emma's life it tended to be the other way around.

She could remember in one of her foster homes, her foster mom treated her like a built in babysitter for her younger children and any time that one of them would accidently throw something and hit the other or if one of them simply tripped and fell Emma would be the one who was punished, even if it was out of her control. From then on out Emma always tried to put everyone else's needs and safety before her own because that was how she survived.

Living with David and Snow was like learning how to walk again because they gave her love without strings attached and cared so deeply about her that they actually cried whens he was hurting. Emma didn't know how to handle that

Emma was at an impasse. Every instinct was telling her to run but her heart knew that she had to stay. Emma felt so conflicted that the tears came harder and louder until she didn't even notice her father coming through her bedroom door and wrapping his arms around her until she heard his voice.

"Emma it's okay, I'm here. You're okay I'm here" he kept repeating softly until Emma had calmed down.

"Emma it's okay, I'm not going anywhere you go ahead and cry. It's okay" He continued.

Finally Emma was able to pull herself together enough to get out a single word, "Why?"

"Why what honey?" David asked still holding tightly to his daughter

"Why do you care?" Emma said still trying to catch her breath from crying so hard.

"I care because you're my daughter Em. I care because I love you and there is nothing you could ever do to change that" Charming said fighting back his own tears now.

He knew that Emma had been in quite a few foster homes but he was finally starting to realize the impact that that had on her emotionally to never have a steady home and that none of them had treated her the way he did and it broke his heart.

"But I always mess up, and I get myself in trouble and do stupid things" Emma said pulling away now and making eye contact with her father.

"That doesn't matter. We all have messed up and gotten in trouble and done stupid things because we're human. What's important is we learn from them and take those lessons with us into the next situation" David said moving Emma's hair out of her face.

"But I lied to you and I snuck out and I went to Regina and…" Emma began to list off all the bad things she had done when David interrupted her

"And you are safe and nothing happened to you and that's what's important. And you apologized to me and your mother and we forgive you. Emma, we love you. The ONLY reason we were mad is because we're selfish and we don't ever want you to not be with us." David said smiling at Emma who looked very confused

"If anything happened to you and we lost you Em, you're mother and I would be devastated and I honestly don't know if we could go on. We were upset because you almost made us find out what that would have been like. We're only punishing you in hopes that you'll remember being punished and decide not to do anything like that again" Charming continued

"I don't deserve you guys" Emma said staring down at the bed

"No Emma, we don't deserve you" David said using two fingers to tilt her chin up to meet his face. "No matter how messy things may get, we will always be the lucky ones. Understand?"

Emma simply nodded before David pulled her closer to him and simply held her and Emma let him. She needed her dad right now and he needed to be near her.

"Alright Emma, it's late, why don't you get some sleep okay?" David said starting to stand up

"Dad, could you stay with me?" Emma said before she even realized the words had passed her lips.

It wasn't something she would ever feel comfortable asking and she even shocked herself by asking it, but she really did want her dad close by until she fell asleep.

"Of course princess" David said tucking Emma in before sitting back down on the bed.

Emma cuddled in while David stroked her hair. He loved this time he was getting with his daughter because he knew that these moments were far, few and in-between and that she wouldn't be letting her guard down like this again any time soon.

Eventually David also fell asleep. Snow came upstairs figuring as much and quietly walked into Emma's room and took a moment to take it all in.

She loved how much Charming really did genuinely love their daughter and how he would do anything for her.

After a moment she walked over and quietly shook Charming's shoulder.

"Hey honey, you fell asleep in Emma's room. Why don't you come to bed?" Snow said with a smile in her voice

"Oh, I didn't even notice. Yea, I'll be right down." Charming said getting his bearings. "Snow, she would have broke you're heart. She asked why we cared so much and said we didn't deserve her. We have to find a way to make her fell loved, even if it kills us"

"You already did" Snow said kissing him on the cheek.

The two of them made sure Emma was all tucked in and watched her sleep for a few minutes before heading down to bed.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 –

 **It seems like Emma and her parents are really connecting, but knowing our Emma, how long can it last?**

Emma's first week of grounding had already passed and she really tried to follow her parents orders as best she could to try and earn back their trust.

She got all her homework done and didn't complain about her punishment for an entire week. So she decided to see if she could get her parents to let her have the TV back and possibly have a friend over.

When she and Snow got home she immediately went to her room to finish her homework and wait for her dad to come home. She knew that if she brought it up to her mom she would just tell her she would have to talk to her dad so she might as well wait and talk to them both at once.

It wasn't long before her homework was complete and she heard the front door open. She immediately rushed down stairs but instead of finding her dad standing in the living room, she saw a man standing in the door that she recognized as one of her old foster dad's.

Snow looked over her shoulders at the sound of Emma coming down the stairs at a look of panic swept over her "Honey go back up to your room right now" she said being careful not to mention her name.

Emma did as she was told and went right back up the stairs. She knew remembered how awful that man was when she lived with him and his wife and she was really hoping that he didn't recognize her. All of a sudden Emma felt scared.

Within a few minutes Emma heard the door shut and then she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Her mother walked into her room relieved to see Emma still sitting on her bed.

"Emma, oh thank God! Okay, we need to go right now!" Snow said in a panicked voice as she began grabbing Emma's clothes from her dresser.

Emma was so confused. Before she had a chance to ask a question her dad came bursting in the room. "Snow I called the dwarfs and their following that Guy, I'm going to go get our stuff together quick and we'll leave." And then he headed out the door.

"What is going on?" Emma asked in a panic

"Emma, we have to go right now. We're going to move into my place at nightfall so that that man doesn't know where we are. Whatever has kept people from entering this town for the last 15 years is now gone and somehow that man was able to find out you were sent here and someone told him where we live. The Dwarfs are making sure that he leaves town but we can't risk him knowing where we live." Snow said as she continued to throw Emma's things into the suit case she has placed on her bed.

"Emma I need you to grab whatever you need and put it in your backpack and come down stairs as fast as you can." Snow said as she zipped up the suit case and flew out the door to find David.

Emma looked around and grabbed her journal and her homework and a few of her personal items that she had brought with her when she first moved in with David.

She quickly walked down stairs and looked around the house. She could hear her parents upstairs rushing around packing their things.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Emma didn't want to bother her parents so she went ahead and answered the door.

OUAT

David heard the doorbell and ran to see who is was but when he passed Emma's room he noticed she wasn't in there.

He began to panic and ran down stairs to find Emma.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 –

 **So who is this mystery man and who is at the door? Will Charming be able to make sure Emma is safe?**

Emma knew that her parents probably wouldn't want her to answer the door but she also didn't want to bother them so she decided to go ahead and open the door anyway.

She was relived to see August standing on the other side. She had forgotten she had invited him over in all the chaos. She hadn't even gotten a chance to talk to her parents about it yet.

"Hey August, I know I said you could come over and we could finally hang out but something came up and I didn't get a chance to let my parents know…" Emma was suddenly interrupted by a voice behind her.

"Let your parents know what Emma?" David said coming up behind Emma

"Um hey Dad!" Emma said trying to pull all her thoughts together into a good excuse for why August was standing in the doorway.

"Emma why is August here and what did you neglect to share with us?" David said a little more sternly knowing that Emma was trying to come up with an excuse.

"Well you see I was just telling August that I couldn't have friends over and that I just forgot to tell you both that August and I were put on a project team together for school" Emma lied through her teeth.

"Emma we don't' have time for one of your schemes. August you need to go. I'm sorry that Emma had you come over here for no reason, have a good day" David said quickly as he shut the door.

"Emma we will deal with this later but right now we have a little bit more important things to worry about. Now, Upstairs now!" David said as he placed his hand on Emma's back to gently guide her toward the stairs.

OUAT

As the three began to walk to their car David and Snow made sure to sandwich Emma between the two of them so that they could watch her from all sides.

Grumpy had called to let them know that Emma's former foster dad had in fact crossed the town line and that he and the other dwarfs would be keeping watch to make sure he or anyone else who tried to enter was kept out.

They arrived at the loft with all of their things and looked around feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything that had happened that day.

Mary Margret told Emma to take the upstairs room while she and David would take the room on the main floor.

Thankfully some of the Charming's other friends had come over earlier that day and helped them move their beds and mattresses over to Snow's loft so that way they would be able to sleep there tonight. Tomorrow Charming would go and bring over some of the other furniture but fortunately Snow already had furniture that they had never moved over to David's place.

They were all exhausted so they immediately went to bed as soon as they arrived.

OUAT

The next morning Emma got up as always and headed down stairs but she was surprised to look around and not see her parents. The curtain was still drawn to their room and Emma wasn't about to venture to find out if they were there or not.

She figured that the only logical thing to do would be to grab some cereal and catch the bus to school so that's exactly what she did. She figured though that she should probably leave a note for her parents so they didn't panic when they went up to her room and didn't find her.

 _Mom and Dad, I went ahead and took the bus to school when I didn't find your guys up this morning. I will be checking my phone so I know if Dad's going to pick me up or if I need to take the bus home._

 _Emma_

With that she was out the door.

OUAT

David woke up to see his wife lying next to him. He loved how peaceful she looked when she slept. He then picked up his phone and was shocked to see that it said 10:30am. He and Snow never slept in like this but after yesterday they were exhausted.

David decided to get up and make coffee for him and Snow as well as check on Emma. When he got to the kitchen though he found Emma's note and immediately ran back to his room to put on clothes and go to school to pick her up.

David was so worried about Emma that he hadn't realized how much noise he was making. It all woke Snow out of a sound sleep.

"Charming, what's going on?" Snow said trying to open her eyes

"Emma went to school this morning on the bus! We forgot to tell her she wasn't going today" David said pulling on his other shoe. "I'm going to pick her up right now"

"Be careful David!" Snow pleaded

"I will" and with that David was out the door.

OUAT

As Emma sat on the bus she continued to try and figure out why her parents weren't up when she was. They hadn't mentioned anything yesterday about taking a day off so it really didn't make sense. Maybe she should have woke them up.

The bus arrived at school and Emma started to walk toward the front doors when she saw one of the dwarfs standing at the door checking ID's. This was a new development and Emma knew it was because of her. She really hated the special treatment.

"Princess" Docs said as he bowed his head at Emma

"Doc, you can call me Emma."

"Okay, Emma, may I see your ID?" Emma complied and handed it over.

"Thank you Prince…I mean Emma. You may proceed"

Emma was about to head in before she decided to get a little intel of her own.

"Hey Doc, has my old foster dad or anyone else tried to come back into town?"

"Not that I know miss. But nothing happened last night I can assure you that. We will make sure you're safe" Doc said with a grin.

"Thanks Doc! Have a good day!" Emma said before heading inside the school. Emma knew she was going to end up giving into her own curiosity and she started to craft a plan of how she could sneak past Doc to try and get herself to the town line to find out what her foster dad wanted.

OUAT

David got to the school and pulled into the first spot he could find. And headed straight for the door. Once he got there he was stopped by Doc.

"Well hello there your highness! I've been keeping an eye on your little princess and she is doing just fine!"

"So she's here?" David asked slightly out of breath

"Of course! She came on the bus with the other kids this morning!"

"Oh Thank God!" David said as he leaned over and put his hands on his knees.

"What's wrong your highness?"

"We weren't going to have Emma go to school today but Snow and I completely forgot to tell her so we were asleep when she got up this morning." David continued "I was afraid something may have happened to her on her way here"

"Well no need to worry sir! She's safe and sound. I'm sure she would rather be here then with you guys at home anyway" Doc reassured him.

"You're probably right" David said feeling relieved, "But I should probably still talk to her and let her know I'll be picking her up after school and explain why her mother and I were asleep this morning"

OUAT

"Emma Swan to the office. Emma Swan to the Office" rang over the intercom between classes. Emma figured that it was one of her parents coming to pick her up and she was too late to try and sneak out.

She walked toward the office and saw her dad sitting outside the office on the little bench that was there. He immediately rose to his feet when he saw her.

"Emma honey I'm so sorry about this morning! You're mother and I weren't going to have you to go school today but we forgot to tell you in all the craziness yesterday!" David hugged her tight feeling a relief that she was okay

"Dad it's fine! I got here safe, you don't have to worry." Emma tried to reassure her dad

"Okay now you can choose, you can finish out the day and I'll pick you up later or you can come home with me now, it's totally up to you"

Emma debated her options. She wasn't a huge fan of school so part of her would love to go home and see if she could get her parents to finally let her watch TV. But then she remembered her plan to go and find the foster dad who came to David's and she knew she had to stay because she would never be able to get out and complete her mission at home.

"It's all good dad, I'll stay here, I mean, I'm already here right?" Emma kinda laughed.

"Alright sweetheart I'll be here at the end of the day to pick you up okay?"

"Okay Dad"

"I love you Emma" David said as he kissed the top of her head

"Dad, stop it! I gotta get back to class I'll see you later" Emma said waving at her dad.

David watched Emma until she went around the corner and then he headed back to his car.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22 –

 **We all know that Emma's curiosity is going to get the best of her and this is the perfect opportunity to make her move.**

As soon as Emma turned the corner she saw the door at the end of the hallway that had no alarm attached. She walked down toward it and looked around outside to see if any of the dwarfs were around guarding it but she didn't see anyone so she used this opportunity to sneak out and find out what this guy wanted.

Emma decided to prop the door open with a small stick to make sure she could sneak back in at the end of school so that her dad wouldn't know she had gone after her former foster dad.

Once Emma opened the door she was off as fast as she could to make sure that no one saw her.

OUAT

As Emma approached the town line she could see Grumpy and two of the other dwarfs standing around guarding the line to any potential strangers trying to enter. Emma knew that if they saw her they would immediately call David and he would know that she suck out.

In order to get past them, Emma would have to go up into the woods to cross over the town line. The only problem was that Emma had a horrible sense of direction but she figured that if she simply walked in a straight line she couldn't get herself lost

OUAT

Emma crossed over the line just passed where the dwarfs could see her come out of the woods. She was pretty proud of herself for making her way through the woods as well as she did.

She started walking toward whatever was beyond and shortly she found a car stranded on the side of the road with a man in it she recognized as her foster dad.

Emma approached the car as the man rolled down the window.

"Hello Emma. I was wondering when you would sneak out here to see me" said the man

"What do you want?"

"I just want to talk to you Emma. Don't you remember me?"

"I remember you hurt me and I remember that you threw me down the stairs and that's when the social worker came and took me away from you"

"I never meant to hurt you Emma. I loved you very much"

"No you didn't. I want you to leave and never come back. I found my real parents and that's all I need."

"If that's what you want"

"That's what I want. You need to leave now and promise to never come back."

"But Emma…"

"No. You need to go. You are making my parents worry and that's not okay with me. You had your chance and you messed it up"

"Okay Emma. I'm sorry that our meeting didn't go better"

With that the man rolled up his window and Emma began to walk back toward the town line. She pulled out her phone and realized that there was no way she was going to be getting back to school on time so there was no reason to try and walk back through the woods because her dad was going to find out what she did one way or another.

Just as Emma was coming up on the town line she heard the sound of a car engine and looked behind her to see her foster dad speeding toward her in his car. Emma began to run yelling for Grumpy and the other to get out of the way.

Just as she crossed the town line the car caught up with Emma and threw her about 30 feet. After that the car went into reverse and spend off.

Grumpy instructed one dwarf to call 911 and the other to call David and let him know what had happened while he attended to Emma.

"Emma! Emma! Emma are you okay?" Grumpy yelled as she ran toward where Emma had landed.

"No, I think I broke something or a lot of things, I don't know" Emma began to cry.

"Emma it's okay, we have an ambulance and your dad on the way" Grumpy said before turning back to make sure the other dwarfs were doing as he asked.

"Emma stay with me you're going to be okay. We're going to take care of you until they get here okay?"

"Okay, I'm in a lot of pain"

"I know but you're going to be okay"

Grumpy kept his eyes pealed for any sign of the ambulance or David while making sure that Emma stayed awake.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23 –

 **Our poor Emma! Good thing that she got over the town line or else she was a gonner!**

"I'm on my way!" David slammed down the phone and grabbed his coat before jumping into the cruiser and throwing on the light and siren. He couldn't get to where Emma was fast enough. He was hoping that he would beat the ambulance so that he could see how she was before the paramedics swarmed in and kept him from getting close to Emma.

On his way he knew he had to call Snow.

"Hey honey I need to tell you something. The dwarfs just called and Emma was hit by a car."

"SHE WHAT?!"

"Calm down! I'm on my way and so is the ambulance but somehow she snuck out of school and got across the town line. She was coming back across when that creep foster dad ran into her and sent her flying"

"David I'm on my way"

"Don't come to the town line, meet me at the hospital. You'll just end up having to turn around anyway"

"Okay but let me know how she is when you get there. See you soon"

"See you soon honey, I love you"

"I love you too!" Snow said before hanging up the phone.

David was starting to panic the closer he got to the town line.

Once he saw grumpy leaning over his daughters lifeless body he slammed on his breaks and threw the car into park and sprinted toward the pair.

"Emma!"

"Dad?" Emma said getting groggy from pain

"Emma! How are you feeling honey? What hurts?"

"Besides everything?" She obviously hadn't lost her sarcasm. "I probably broke a rib or two and at least one leg"

"I would agree with that. Do you have feeling very where?"

"Oh Yea!"

"Honey what were you doing on the other side of the town line?"

Before she could answer they heard the sounds of the ambulance. They worked fast to get her onto a gurney and into the ambulance and off to the hospital.

David followed behind with his sirens going so that no one could miss them coming and they could have time to get out of the way and clear a path.

When they got to the hospital David parked right out in front not bothering to find a parking spot and ran in to meet Snow.

"How's our girl?"

"She thinks she broke a few things but she had feeling everywhere so that's a good sign"

"David what was she doing out there?"

"I tried to asked right before the ambulance showed up. Let's go find out where she is and we can figure out the logistics later"

The pair headed up to the nurses station to find out where the paramedics had taken Emma. They were instructed to follow the nurse who showed them to Emma's room where she laid their crying in pain.

"Mommy! Daddy! It hurts so bad!" She cried out

"Honey we're here!" Snow cried running to grab on to Emma's hand.

"I'm here to princess" David said coming around to the other side of the bed and grabbing on to her other hand.

"Have they told you anything?" Snow asked

"No, they said they gave me pain killers but it isn't working!" Emma cried

"I'm going to find a doctor" David said walking out of the room.

About two minutes later David walked through the door with Doctor Wale. He wasn't going to let his baby girl lay there in pain.

Doctor Wale immediately came over to the machine that Emma was hooked up to and began to push buttons. Whatever it was he did they could see the relief that rushed over Emma.

"I just gave her another dose of pain killer so that should help keep her comfortable" Doctor Wale explained. We need to get her to X-Ray and find out if anything is broken before we move forward. I'll order those and a nurse will be back in a few minutes to come and get Emma for that"

"Thank you Doctor Wale" Snow said also feeling relieved that they were finally going to get them some answers.

"Can I talk to you out in the hallway for a moment?" Doctor Wale said looking at the Charmings.

"We'll be right back princess. Just relax" David said giving Emma's hand a squeeze before they followed Doctor Wale.

"Your daughter is going to have a very long recovery. I'm pretty sure she broke a few bones and has some internal bruising. I need to know how this happened."

"She somehow snuck past the dwarfs and got on the other side of the town line and when she was coming back a car chased her and deliberately hit her. Grumpy said she flew about 30 feet before she landed" David explained.

"That would explain it" Doctor Wale said a bit shocked. "Well I will put a rush on those X-rays and be back to give you an update as soon as I can"

"Thank you Doctor" David said bring Snow in for a hug

David went to walk back into Emma's room but Snow kept holding on to him.

"I can't go in there just yet, I have to pull myself together" Snow managed to get out through her tears.

"She's going to be okay Snow. Thankfully Grumpy was there to be with her until I got there and they called for an ambulance right away and now we are getting her the care she needs" David tried to assure her.

"I know but what if that man had killed her?" Snow broke into a fresh batch of tears

"We can't go there Snow. We have our baby Girl and that is what matters!" Charming said a little forcefully, more for himself then for Snow.

"I know, I know" Snow said wiping away her tears

"You ready?" Charming said taking her face in his hands

"Yea, I'm ready" Snow replied

They shared a kiss before going back in to check on Emma.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 –

 **Let's find out how our Emma is**

Snow and Charming walked back into the room to find Emma passed out. Between the pain and the medication she had little chance of staying awake.

The couple simply stood and held each other while looking at their little girl who wasn't so little anymore. They hated that she was in so much pain and that there was nothing they could do to fix it.

Just as they were going to go sit down next to Emma the nurse walked in and began to unhook different machines from Emma so that they could wheel her down to the X-ray room. It was probably for the best that Emma was asleep so that way they could manipulate her body in whatever ways they needed in order to get a good picture.

Once the nurse wheeled Emma out Snow and Charming went back to their chairs.

OUAT

The nurse returned a few minutes later with a very cranky Emma. Apparently the nurse was not able to get her pictures without waking Emma up, that or the moving is what woke her up.

Either way she was awake now and she wasn't happy about it.

Emma knew well enough to not say anything while the nurse was in the room so she sat there with a scowl while the nurse finished hooking her back up to the different machines. But once she left…

"Did no one get the memo that I was hit by a car?! I mean, why in the world would you twist and pull on me when there is most likely several broken bones in my body?"

"Emma they were just doing their job" Snow tried to reassure her.

"Unless their job title is torture specialist I don't think so" She huffed and folded her arms which caused her to yelp in pain

"Relax Em, Doctor Wale will be back here in a little bit to let us know what has to be done okay?" David said trying not to laugh at his already frustrated daughter.

OUAT

It felt like an eternity to Emma before Doctor Wale finally came in and confirmed what Emma had thought, she broke two ribs and her right leg. She also sprained her right wrist. The ribs and wrist just need to be wrapped but the Leg unfortunately was going to have to be reset before they could put a cast on it.

Doctor Wale reassured Emma that they would give her a powerful pain killer and a type of anesthesia that would keep her from remembering the setting and the pain.

"Doctor Wale, Thank you so much" Snow said relieved that it was nothing more serious.

"You're welcome. I'm going to have you two step out while I bring a team in to reset her leg and while we're at it we will wrap her ribs and her wrist. Once that is done we can also put the cast on that way Emma won't remember any of it"

"I'm right here!"

"Sounds good to us Doctor Wale. How long do you think all that is going to take?" David said ignoring his daughter

"In all it should take a little under an hour. I suggest you both go and get a coffee and a snack and we will page you over the PA system when Emma is all set and then we will get you the discharge papers and you three can head home."

Doctor Wale then headed out to organize the team to get the job done giving David and Snow a chance to hug Emma before they vacated the room.

"Emma we love you honey, like Doctor Wale said, you won't remember any of this and you will have lots of pain medication so you shouldn't wake up in pain." Snow said trying to make it all sound better

"And we will be here as soon as you wake up and then we can go home. Who knows, maybe we can even watch a movie!" David chimed in hoping that the incentive of watching TV would at least give her something to look forward to.

"Okay, but you promise you'll be here when I wake up right?" Emma pleaded

Neither of them had seen Emma like this. She was always the one who put on a brave face, but as of recently she had randomly let her guard down and shown that she couldn't always keep a tough exterior.

"We promise Princess. Now you are going to get some drugs that will make you go to sleep so go ahead and let yourself sleep okay? We love you"

"I love you both too" She replied.

Snow and David didn't even have time to react to the first time their daughter finally told them she loved them because just as she said it the team came in and they were forced to leave.

They held each other for a moment outside of her room as the door closed. They hated that their baby girl was this scared but they knew she couldn't have been in better hands.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25 –

 **Poor Emma is going to have a long recovery ahead of her!**

After a moment Charming and Snow headed down to the cafeteria to grab a coffee. They hadn't realized how late it was when all was said and done and the exhaustion was starting to catch up to them.

As they were headed to the cafeteria the thoughts of what could have been began to flood their mind. What if that man had hit her before she crossed the town line? What if he had taken her? They never would have found her.

They knew they were both thinking it but neither of them had the heart to verbalize it to the other knowing that speaking it would be worse than thinking it.

Once they arrived at the cafeteria they got their coffee and headed right back to Emma's room. They knew Doctor Wale had told them he would page them but they wanted to be able to be back with their little girl as soon as possible.

In order to kill the time they started talking about how they would manage having Emma live at the loft with all of her injuries.

"We could take her room and give her ours, that way she doesn't have to worry about stairs and frankly neither do I. When the curse first broke and she was on crutches I nearly had a heart attack every time she even got close to the stairs" Snow said while sipping her coffee

"That's a good idea! But the only thing that worries me is if someone were to try and break in she would be an open target. What if we put her in the living room for now and she can move back upstairs after her leg heals?" Charming chimed in. He really didn't like making Emma vulnerable and he also liked being closer to Emma if she were to need them.

"Okay let's do that. That's also a lot less moving to do! And, this may sound silly, but I want to put a baby gate up in front of the stairs to try and keep Emma from trying to go up them. They are a lot steeper at my loft then they were at the house and it would be a much harder fall" Snow said thinking of her poor daughter injuring herself more.

"You know she is going to hate that" Charming said chuckling at the reaction they would get from Emma.

"I don't care how much she hates it, it's for her own good" Snow chimed in very serious about her request.

"Okay, okay! I'll go pick one up first thing tomorrow morning" Charming said putting his arm around his wife

"Charming how did this happen? How did we end up in the hospital with our daughter literally having to be put back together?" Snow said laying her head on Charming's shoulder

"I don't know Snow. Personally I blame you, I mean, you were the one who was running through the woods as a wanted criminal stealing things and almost getting yourself killed when we first met…" Charming said starting to chuckle

Snow punched his arm "HEY! I had my reasons! And I'm being serious her Charming, why does she keep putting herself in danger and how can we stop it?"

"I don't know that we can Snow. I mean, selflessness runs in her blood as does being a hero. What we can do is try and create more boundaries but so far that hasn't helped either. I think it's time we taught her how to defend herself"

"Knowing how to defend herself wouldn't have helped today"

"That is true"

"I don't want to constantly worry about her. Can we make grumpy her personal bodyguard? I mean, I've watched the news from this land and they have this person called a president who is basically a King and him and his whole family have bodyguards so since she is part of the royal family we could make a case!" Snow said getting very excited at the possibility

"As much as I like your idea you know that would put a riff between us and her because she would never forgive us for it."

Snow sighed and curled up next to charming moving her head to his lap.

"If she mentions anything about getting her license I may explode" Snow said flatly

"Oh I totally agree! She needs to fully heal from all of this before we even think about putting her into a death machine" David said being overcome by the fear of his daughter behind the wheel

Right then Doctor Wale exited the room. The couple immediately rose to their feet.

"Oh, Hello. Well she's all set and she did great. As far as recovery goes she needs to be in bed laying down for the next week if not two weeks. After a week I'd like her to come back and we'll reevaluate everything and take new X-rays to see how she's healing and determine how to go from there. With her leg she can't put any weight on her leg for the next month and I would recommend getting her a wheel chair because she didn't only break her leg but she messed up her hip pretty badly and crutches will only agitate that."

"Thank you for taking such good care of our girl" Charming said putting his arm around Snow.

"Of Course. Here are the prescriptions for her pain killers and I also wrote her a prescription for a muscle relaxer because the muscles around her ribs are going to begin to tighten up and we need them to be relaxed until the ribs begin to heal."

"Okay, we will get them filled as soon as possible" Snow said taking the prescriptions and putting them in her purse

"Alright, the nurse will be in in a few minutes to get her discharged and then the three of you will be free to go home. Feel free to call me if there are any questions"

"Thank you Doctor" Said David as they headed into Emma's room.

Emma was just starting to come to when they walked in. They could see the bulge in her shirt from where they had wrapped her ribs and her leg had a purple cast on it. Her wrist also had a wrap on it and a sling was around her neck so that it didn't hang.

"Hey" Emma said seeing her parents walk in

"Hey baby, how are you feeling?" David said brushing her face with his hand

"I feel great" Emma said. Obviously the drugs were working

"Good!" Snow said trying to contain her laughter at Emma's drugged state

"You guys ready to go?" Emma asked as a great big grin grew across her face

"We will get going in a few minutes honey, we have to wait for the nurse" David said

"Nonsense! I'll go find her" Emma said trying to sit up

"No, no, Princess I can go find her, you just lay here" David said now trying to hold back he own laughter at his daughter's antics

"You know dad, if I'm a princess, that makes you a king and it makes mom a queen. We need a castle!" Emma said delighted with herself

"You're right Emma, we do need a castle, how about we build one here in storybrook?" Snow asked trying to keep the conversation going so that Emma would stay still. She knew her daughter couldn't feel it now but she would in a little bit once the meds wore off a bit.

"YES! Let's do it! I'll call August and have him and his dad start it today! And we can have a dungeon made for Regina and Rumple stiltskin!" Emma said enthusiastically

David had to turn away as the laughter he was trying so desperately to contain was starting to find it's way out of his mouth and he didn't want Emma to get mad not knowing how she would react in her drugged state.

David was saved by the nurse coming in.

"Well Hello Ms Emma how are we doing?" She asked

"I'm Great! We're going to build a castle!" Emma told her

"Well that sounds like a fun project! But make sure you are just overseeing because you're not ready for work just yet!" The nurse played along

"Oh no! I'm a princess, I just point and order people" Emma said very seriously

"Of course your majesty!" The nurse said with a little giggle. "Alright, well Emma is all set to go, the drugs in her system should last her till tomorrow morning when you're able to get her prescriptions filled. The dosing instructions will be on the bottle. Doctor Wale said he talked to you about her restrictions so if you can help me, we'll get her in this wheelchair and get you on your way!"

"Sounds good! Charming can you just pick her up?" Snow said looking at her husband.

"Give me one moment" Said the nurse. "I need to unhook her from a few of these machines"

They watched as the nurse made quick work of all the tubes and equipment and it was only a short time before they were on their way to the main door. Thankfully David hadn't moved his car so it was all ready for them to load Emma in.

They laid her in the back seat and strapped her in as best they could.

Before Snow headed to get her car she and charming shared one last moment together and both felt the shared relief that their daughter was back safe with them and that, although she was bruised and broken, she was still with them.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26 –

 **I hope you loved the last chapter because I loved writing drugged Emma! I actually was inspired by my own sister who had to have her arm rest and the drugs they gave her made her say the darndest things! Now it's time to get Emma home, let's see how she does after the drugs wear off**

Emma woke up and looked around to find she was in her mother's living room and her entire body ached. The sun was shining in her eyes so she couldn't see anything but she sure could smell something.

She tried to swing her legs over but found her leg was a lot heavier then she remembered. Suddenly it all came flooding back. Talking to her foster dad and the car and the hospital and something about a castle but that part was fuzzy.

She felt stuck. She couldn't use her arms to get herself sitting upright and her entire body hurt from her broken ribs. She finally just let out a loud sigh hoping that whoever was in the kitchen would hear her.

"Well good morning to you too sunshine" She heard her dad's voice

"Everything hurts"

"You're mom will be back in a few minutes with your medication and that will make you feel better princess"

"Dad…you know I hate when you call me that"

"Well last night you were all about it, you were even wanting to build a castle!" David chuckled wondering if she remembered any of that

"I did?"

"Oh yea! You even told the nurse about it!"

"No I didn't!" Emma said absolutely mordified

"Oh yes you did! You were adorable"

"I am never going to go to another hospital again"

"I'll hold you to it! Now, do you want eggs and pancakes?"

"That sounds wonderful!"

"I'm almost done and I'll bring you over a plate and help you set up. For now just take the remote off the table and watch some TV"

"But I'm grounded" Emma said confused why her dad would suggest that

"Well you're mom and I figured that you've earned TV back"

"THANK YOU! Oh, Ouch!" Emma said exclaiming and then immediately regretting after her ribs began to feel like they were on fire

David rushed over to his daughter. "Honey, you okay?"

"My ribs, I can't get excited like that"

"Let me grab you some Ice" David said getting up and running to the kitchen

"Here you go" he said returning with the bag of frozen peas and putting it on her ribs. "How is that?"

"It's good" Emma said as she tried to relax

Just then Snow walked back into the loft

"Oh honey, are you in pain?" She said walking right over to Emma

"Yea, got a little to excited about TV" Emma said trying to stay as still as possible

"Let me grab a class of water" Charming said moving Emma's hand to hold the ice

Snow began to brush her hand over Emma's forehead and simply stared at her daughter

"Mom, what are you doing?" Emma said confused why her mom was just staring at her

"Nothing, just glad that you're here and we didn't lose you last night" Snow said

Emma was starting to get uncomfortable and was saved by her dad bringing over the water forcing her mom to have to look away in order to get out the pills.

She handed them to Emma and David helped her to lift her head up enough to take them and not spill water all over herself and get ready to eat breakfast. Then he went to the kitchen to make up a plate for her and Snow.

Once they were all in the living room enjoying breakfast, David decided to ask Emma why it was she had snuck over the town line yesterday.

"Emma, you're mother and I need to ask you a question"

"You want to know what I was doing don't you?" Emma said basically taking the words out of his mouth

"Well, yea" David said admittedly

"Once I left you at the office and I turned the corner I saw the door at the end of the hallway wasn't being watched and so I took the opportunity to go and find my old foster dad. I had been planning it since I got to school but you just gave me the opportunity."

"Emma Ruth…" Snow scolded

"Looks like we need to inform the school they need to keep a better eye on their doors" David chimed in a little annoyed but also pretty impressed with his little rebel.

"Well I knew that my foster dad wouldn't be far but that the dwarfs were guarding the town line so I went into the woods far enough to where they couldn't see me and got out on the other side just after the bend in the road so they couldn't see me on the other side and just a few more feet down the road I saw his car. We talked and I told him that I remembered him and I remembered that he hurt me and that I had found my real mom and dad and that I wanted him to leave us alone. He agreed and drove off."

"So why did you decide to cross back over the town line instead of going back into the woods?" Snow asked curiously, it wasn't like Emma to get caught if she didn't have to.

"I looked at my phone and saw that I wasn't going to be able to get back to school in time for dad to pick me up and I was going to get caught one way or another and I didn't wan to get lost in the woods because even though I got through the first time I knew there was no way I was guaranteed to make it out"

"Well I'm proud of you for realizing that" David said trying not to show how impressed he was of how thought out her plan was.

"So I was almost to the town line when I heard the car engine coming toward me so I started running and I got about 10 feet past the town line but he kept coming and, well you know the rest" Emma said finishing her story and looking down at her plate not wanting to see the reaction of her parents.

"Emma, we really wish that you hadn't snuck out of school" David started seeing the look on Snow's face he knew she was trying to get her thoughts together. "You don't know what could have happened to you. You know you're mother and I can't cross the town line and still remember you so we wouldn't have been able to go after you if that man had taken you."

"Emma what if he had hit you on the other side of the town line and we had to watch from the other side unable to help you?!" Snow blurted out. Her anger was getting the best of her.

"I'm sorry mom but I needed to make sure that he left us alone" Emma said a bit defensive

"Emma that is not your job. We know that the first 15 years of your life you had to protect yourself but now you have us for that. Now it's our responsibility to protect you, not the other way around" Charming said

"But he wasn't listening to you guys" Emma said stubbornly

"Then that is our problem to deal with. It is not your job to go and fight your own battles. Our job is to protect you but we can't do that when you are constantly sneaking out and putting yourself in harms way!" David said a bit more passionately then he had planned but he desperately wanted his daughter to understand what he was saying.

"I know you guys are trying to protect me but I got him to leave us alone" Emma said

"Not without almost getting yourself killed!" Snow said fighting back tears "Emma we almost lost you yesterday. Had your head hit the cement or the impact have thrown you into a tree or God forbid he actually ran you over, we would have lost you"

Snow began to cry which she hadn't planned on doing but the thought of losing her daughter was becoming overwhelming so she got up and went to her room.

"Dad" Emma said watching her mom leave the room

"Emma, you're mom's right. We could have lost you because you decided to handle something that was not yours to handle." David said sternly. "Emma we wouldn't have even known to look for you on that side of town because we thought you were in school!"

David took a moment to gain his composure because he knew he didn't want to say something that he would regret later.

"Now you need to know that Doctor Wale has said you have to stay in bed for at least a week and then we will go in and reevaluate. We are going to need your cooperation on this. We know it's no fun to have to stay laying in bed but in order to change that you have to obey the Doctors order understood?" David said giving her his dad look

"Fine" Emma said throwing her head back and looking at the ceiling trying to conceal the pain that immediately rushed to her ribs

"Emma. Enough. We can always take TV away from you again" David warned not liking the attitude that he was getting.

Emma turned her head to face her dad "I'm sorry. This just sucks"

"I agree it does suck. But we need to face this as a team alright?"

"Alright"

"Now, I'm going to go talk to your mom but I want you to really think about what we said and I expect an apology for the both of us when we come back" David said standing and again giving Emma the dad look that let her know he was completely serious.

"Yes Sir" Emma replied feeling a lump form in her throat.

"Okay, go ahead and watch some TV and rest," David said kissing Emma's forehead and heading to his bedroom to talk to Snow.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27 –

 **Emma is not good at being sick. By the way I don't know what is going on but I can't see any of your reviews but I'm trying to get that figured out. :(**

Emma grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels until ultimately deciding to catch up on some of her shows on Netflix.

As she started watching One Tree Hill her mind started going back to the accident. She hadn't even thought about how her actions would affect her parents. Then again, that was really all she was thinking about.

She was thinking about how she hated seeing them worry. She was thinking about how she hated her parents having to run in the middle of the night. She wanted them to be able to live their lives in peace and she knew that getting her foster father to leave would do just that.

In all of her wanting to make her parents happy she had never thought about what would happen to her. She never was one to be selfish. Everything she did was to try and make those around her happy. Except the difference now was she actually deeply desired her parents happiness where in the past she made her foster parents happy out of a desire to survive. Before her foster parents would beat her and say horrible things to her so she wanted to keep them happy for her own self-preservation.

She never had to think about how sneaking out or putting herself in danger affected others because no one had ever cared about her that much so she never had to answer for her actions.

OUAT

"Snow" David said coming into their room to his weeping wife

"David I'm sorry I didn't mean to lose it like that" Snow said trying to wipe away her tears

"Snow, it's okay."

"No it's not, I shouldn't have lost my cool." Snow paused as she fought the new wave of tears trying to break though with little luck "David I don't know what I would have done if we had lost her again"

UDavid wrapped her into his arms as she cried

"I hope you know I feel the same way you do. I fought tears all the way to the accident scene."

"But you didn't lose it and walk out on the conversation" Snow said angry with herself

"Maybe this is what Emma needed to start thinking about how her actions affect us" Charming said trying to comfort her. "Take a minute and then let's go and talk to her. Some way we will get through that thick little head of hers"

OUAT

Emma began to realize what her parents were trying to get across to her. They loved her and they truly cared about what happened to her. All the things she hated seeing them worry about were them worrying about her, not the house or their own safety, but her safety.

Just then Snow and Charming exited their room and walked toward Emma. Charming grabbed the bag of now thawed peas to place back into the freezer for later use while Snow sat on the coffee table across from the couch.

"Emma I'm sorry that I walked out while you were talking. Emma honey I love you so much! I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you. I couldn't live without you."

"I know mom, I'm sorry. It' just…" Emma wasn't sure if her mom was in a place where she could tell her mom what she was thinking.

Just then David came back and sat next to Snow.

"Go ahead Emma. You can share anything with us no matter how painful it may be. That's what we're here for" Charming said putting his hand on Emma's Knee.

"I've never had anyone actually care about what happened to me. I just want to make you guys happy" Emma said not making eye contact with her parents.

"Emma the only thing that would make us happy is you being safe. We could be living on the street and we would be happy because we would have you" Snow said desperately wanting to hug Emma but knowing that would only cause her pain.

"Emma from now on, your only job is to make sure you're not putting yourself into danger. Other then that, you just be you okay?" David said smiling at his daughter.

"Deal!" Emma said with a big smile


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28 –

 **Now we're going to jump ahead a little bit. Emma is mostly recovered from her accident. She can walk around on her own but her ribs are still a bit tender. Now that she's not grounded she can finally hang out with her friends (And maybe get into a little trouble)**

Emma was so excited to go to her final doctors appointment. Her dad and driven her there after school and Emma was so excited to finally be done with the whole accident that she was about ready to burst!

"Dad I'm so excited! Now I can FINALLY begin to learn how to drive!" Emma's 16th birthday had been a few weeks before and she was disappointed that she still didn't have her license

"I'll talk to your mom but we just got you back on your own two feet, I'm not sure if we're ready to put you behind the wheel of a vehicle." David said a bit panicked at the idea of letting Emma Drive.

"Dad, we've been over this, the accident had nothing to do with me being behind the wheel of a car" Emma protested. This had been an ongoing discussion between herself and her parents while she was recovering.

David knew that once Emma got the all clear from Doctor Wale that the first thing Emma would be pushing for is that drivers license. Thankfully the accident had given him and Snow some time but not enough for either of their liking.

"By the way, since I'm going to be given the all clear and I'm done being grounded, I'm having Neal pick me up after the appointment and we're going to go hang out." Emma said looking down at her phone

"Emma, you didn't clear that with your mother and I" David said a bit surprised at Emma's announcement

"I'm doing that now, with you" Emma said looking up and giving her dad a huge grin.

David couldn't resist Emma's antics any more than he could resist Snow's smirk when she wanted something.

"Fine, but I want you home by 6, it's a school night" David said in a slightly stern voice.

"Sounds great!"

The two of them entered the hospital with Emma on crutches and exited shortly with both of them walking on two feet! Emma was overjoyed at the fact that she no longer had to use those hideous pieces of metal to get around and she could move at a pace that she wanted!

"Now Emma Doctor Wale said you needed to ease yourself into walking and that it may take a few weeks to be back to a hundred percent so please take it easy" David said worried about letting her go off with Neal right after she had gotten off the crutches.

"I know dad, I'll be fine! I'll see you at dinner!" Emma said barely able to contain her excitement

"Okay, where is Neal?" David said looking around the parking lot

"He will be here in a few minutes. I just texted him that I'm ready" Emma said staring down at her phone

"I'll wait here with you then till he gets here, I don't want to have to come back and get you if he doesn't show" David said. He really just wanted to make sure that his daughter was safe, although everything in him said that letting her go off with Neal was the total opposite of safe. The son of Rumple Stiltskin was not exactly the kind of kid he wanted his daughter hanging around with.

"Dad it's fine, you go ahead and go home to mom" Emma said, still staring at her phone.

Just then Neal pulled up in his little Red two door and Emma hopped in. Neal rolled down the window when he saw David start to approach the passenger side.

"Neal, Emma still needs to take it easy so please don't ask her to do anything that requires too much walking understand?" David said in his dad voice

"Dad, I got this" Emma said through gritted teeth embarrassed that her dad was talking to her friend like she wasn't even there.

"I love you Em, remember to be home by 6" David said making sure he was loud enough for Neal to here.

"Okay Dad" Emma said in her most annoyed voice "Let's go Neal" and the two were off.

David couldn't help it that he loved seeing his daughter get embarrassed by his antics and he really wanted to make sure that Neal knew that she had a curfew so that Emma wouldn't have a leg to stand on if she was late.

With that David headed toward his car to go home

OUAT

"Sweet Freedom!" Emma yelled at the top of her lungs as Neal drove down the road

"How are you feeling?" Neal asked her

"A whole lot better now that I don't have those stupid crutches! I mean my ribs still hurt a little but I can work through that with no problem!" Emma said letting all of her excitement spill out

"So what do you want to go do with your new found freedom?" Neal asked as they got closer to the center of town

"How about we go and relive some of the old days? Say in the next town?" Emma said with a mischievous grin.

She and Neal had met in foster care and both ended up in Storybrook and found their real parents. When they had known each other in foster care they had gotten into the trouble, petty theft and some fire crackers in a rest stop toilet but still, it was fun memories for them both amidst their terrible time in foster care.

And it also meant that they were the only two people in storybrook who could cross the town line without losing their memories.

"Emma, how am I going to get you home by 6 and get us to the next town and back?" Neal said a bit concerned at how Emma thought they could pull that off.

"Well who said we were going to be back by 6? I'll call my mom and tell her that we are going to grab dinner and a movie and I'll be home by 9! I'll play the 'First Day of Freedom' card, easy!" Emma said smiling back at her friend.

"And if we get caught? We don't have anyone to bail us out of jail" Neal reminded her

"We don't have to do anything that bad! Come on Neal! Aren't you sick of this small town?" Emma pleaded with her friend.

"Alright but call your mom first and make sure you can be home at 9 because honestly your dad scares the crap out of me" Neal said remembering David's look when he had picked Emma up at the hospital

"Fine scaredy cat!" Emma said before picking up her phone and diling her mother.

"Hey mom!" Emma said in her sticky sweet please give me what I want voice

 _"Hey Em, What's Up?"_ Snow said in a voice that let Emma know she was on to her

"I'm handing out with Neal and we want to see a movie and grab a bite to eat but my curfew is 6, can we make it 9 just for tonight being it's my first day of freedom since the accident?" Emma crossed her fingers waiting for her mom to answer

 _"Alright but if you walk in any later then 9 and I mean 9:01 you're grounded for a week understand?"_ Snow said in her mom voice

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I promise I'll be home by 9! LOVE YOU!" Emma said before handing up the phone. "Done and done!"

"Alright, but somehow you're going to find a way to get us into trouble Emma Swan" Neal said before putting the car in gear and heading toward the town line.

"Wait, before we go lets' bring Killian to! I know he's older than us but he's a lot of fun" Emma said with a flirty kind of smile.

"Do we have to?" Neal asked. He really wasn't a fan of Killian, mainly because he always flirted with Emma and Neal really liked Emma but he knew he didn't have a chance with the pirate.

"Come on Neal! It'll be fun!" Emma said grabbing Neal's arm.

"Fine, I'll head toward his house give him a call" Neal said disappointed that he couldn't resist saying yes to Emma.

Before long the three where in the car headed off to the town line.

OUAT

David got home after stopping by the station to pick up a few things he needed to finish.

"Hello Beautiful!" David said walking over and kissing his wife

"Well hello there!" Snow replied with a kiss back

"Emma got the all clear from Doctor Wale and she is handing out with Neal"

"Oh I know she called me, I extended her curfew to 9 so she and Neal could catch a movie and she said they are also going to eat out so that leaves just the two of us" Snow said with a devilish grin

"Snow there are no movie playing tonight" David said with a very serious tone ignoring his wife

"What do you mean?" Snow asked starting to get worried

"I got a memo saying that there was flooding at the movie theater and they are shut down for the next few days" David said

"Well why don't you call her and let her know, I'm sure she is going to be disappointed though" Snow said going back to preparing dinner

"That's the thing Snow, she was with me in the car when the memo came over the radio" David said getting more frustrated

"So she lied?" Snow said turning around and seeing her equally frustrated husband

"She's planning on doing something she isn't supposed to with Neal" David said before grabbing his keys and heading back out the door.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29 –

 **Is charming going to be able to catch up to them before they cross the town line? What will they find in the outside world?**

Emma looked down at her phone to see it was her dad calling. She knew that she couldn't ignore his call or he would be coming after them so she told the boys to be quiet and shut off the music as she accepted the call.

"Hey Dad"

 _"Emma, why did you tell your mother that you and Neal were going to go to a movie?"_

"Because we are? Is there something wrong with going to a movie?"

 _"You heard the memo come over the radio on our way to the hospital that the theater is flooded"_

"What?! When did that memo come over the radio? I don't remember that dad, honestly!"

 _"Emma you better not be lying to me"_

"Dad I promise I'm not, I definitely was on my phone not paying attention. I guess Neal and I will just have to rent a movie tonight and watch it at his house"

 _"Emma, where are you right now?"_

"I'm with Neal, we're on main street" She actually wasn't lying for the two seconds of the phone call when they actually were on main street

 _"Emma"_

"What dad?"

 _"Make sure you two are being safe and that Neal is paying attention while he's driving and I want you home no later then 9. 9:01 means you're grounded understood?"_

"Understood. Thanks Dad! Love you!"

 _"Love you to Em, see you tonight"_

OUAT

"What did she say?" Snow asked as she added the sauce to the pasta

"She said she didn't remember the memo going out over the radio and that she and Neal would be having a movie night at Neal's house" David replied a little shocked that Emma had proven him wrong.

Sadly the couple wasn't used to Emma not lying or trying to pull a fast one over on them.

"I guess it's time we start trusting her David" Snow said

"I guess so, she really is proving that she is trustworthy, but I'm not ready to giver her a license" David said a bit frightened at the thought

"Oh I agree, she hasn't earned that yet. But at least now I don't feel like I have to put a tracking anklet on her" Snow said jokingly although the thought had crossed her mind a few times, especially when Emma crossed the town line.

"I'm not quite there yet" Charming joked back wishing that he could be with Emma every moment to protect her from the outside world

"You ready to eat?" Snow said putting the pasta into a serving dish and heading toward the table

"Starving, let's eat!" Charming said heading her direction.

OUAT

"Wow that was close! I totally forgot that the theater was flooded or else I would have come up with a better lie! Good thing my dad bought that one!" Emma said relieved that she hadn't been caught

"Very nicely done Swan!" Killian said placing his hand on Emma's shoulder

"Wow, you're quite the little actress" Neal added

"Why thank you gentleman and for my next act, convincing the dwarfs not to not call my father, although that will be a magic trick instead of a performance" Emma said liking the praise of her peers for a lie well told.

"How is that love?" Killian said not fully understanding the blond

"I'm going to put them to sleep so that way they can't call my dad and let him know that we crossed the town line. Then, when we come back, I'll wake them up give them something that they think my dad sent like a message or a coffee or something, that way they don't know what happened and they think we were simply doing a good deed!" Emma said delighted with her little plan.

"You really thought this all the way through didn't you?" Neal said a bit surprised. He knew Emma had it in her but most of the time she just flew by the seat of her pants

"I rather like it" Killian added giving Emma's shoulder a squeeze

"Alright boys, time to put this plan into action" Emma said as they came up to where Emma could see the dwarfs she used a large burst of light to blind the dwarfs and then blew sleeping powder over them that she had swiped from Mr. Gold's shop a week before.

Her plan worked like a charm and the three were off.

OUAT

Charming sat eating dinner with his wife but something just didn't seem right.

"Charming? What's wrong with you? You've barely touched your food."

"Snow something is right."

"Charming you already called her and she told you what they were doing. Is it because she's with Neal?"

"No, actually I like Neal, except that he's the offspring of the dark one. It's just something about how she was talking, it was almost too good to be true."

"Charming I think you're over thinking it. I know it's weird because this is the first time since we all found each other that we haven't been with her but this is natural, it needs to happen"

"Snow it's not that. Call it a gut feeling or a fathers intuition but Emma is up to something"

"If you're that worried just call her"

"If she's up to something she isn't going to tell me Snow" David said a bit more sarcastically then he had planned.

"Charming!"

"I'm sorry, that came out wrong. But it's true, she is one heck of a liar that kid"

"That's true"

"You know, as strange as it sounds, let's call the dwarfs and ask them if they've seen her. She's crossed the town line once before and since Neal was also sent over here through a portal and he cross with him and Emma is pretty good at getting people to do what she wants"

"David, I think we need to trust our daughter. She hasn't given us any reason not to"

"Snow I don't feel good about this"

"Fine, but call her first and give her the chance to come clean before you try and find evidence to prove your point." Snow was getting a little put out with David's lack of trust in their daughter.

OUAT

Ten miles outside of Storybrook the trio began seeing signs for a city called Portland. They decided that is where they wanted to go so they followed the signs until the skyline came into view.

Both Emma and Neal had lived in different places but neither of them had been to a big city before. Killian had come to Storybrook shortly after Emma broke the curse so he had never seen anything beyond Storybrook so the whole idea of an outside world was brand new to him.

The first thing Emma wanted to do was find a Chipotle. She had loved Chipotle when she was living with one of her foster parents in Boston but she hadn't been able to have it since she came to live with David.

"So what is this place?" Killian asked having never seen a fast food restaurant.

"It's Mexican food!" Emma said excitedly

"Mexa what?" Killian asked becoming more confused by Emma's explanation

"It's kind of spicy but it's really good! You get rice and then you choose your meat and you get to add veggies and other toppings and then you pay for it and eat it and it's really good!" Emma said not knowing how better to explain it.

"It'll make more sense once you watch Emma go through the line" Neal said realizing the pirate was never going to understand

"Thanks Mate"

Emma went through the line and ordered her Chicken Burrito bowl and waited for Killian because she knew he had no money to pay for it and she had offered to pay for his. Watching the leather clad pirate try and order food was something to behold.

Once the three had consumed their food they decided to go and walk the streets and explore what Portland had to offer. By the time they had walked a good ten blocks none of them had bothered to look at the time and saw that it was thirty minutes to nine and they were still a fifteen minute walk to the car and a good forty-five minute drive home.

Emma decided to see if she could pull off another lie and get her dad to extend her curfew even though she knew there was little hope of that.

The three began to race to the car.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30 –

 **Emma was so close to pulling off the perfect lie but is her lack of time management going to end her up in hot water?**

David began watching the clock once at 8:45 really hoping that Emma would prove him wrong but as the minutes passed his hope began to waiver.

Suddenly his phone rang and he saw it was his daughter. He knew she was going to be asking for him to extend her curfew but he answered the phone anyway.

"Hey Emma, where you at?"

 _"Hey Dad, Neal and I are in the middle of our second movie, is it okay if I come home at 10? I already have my homework done and I promise that I will wake up tomorrow!"_ Emma was really hoping she was being convincing as Neal sped down the road toward Storybrook.

"Emma we talked about this. You're curfew is 9, you shouldn't have started another movie you knew was going to go past your curfew"

 _"Dad I know, I wouldn't have had I thought to look at the clock but it's the sequel to the first movie so we just threw it in because we had to see what happened next!"_ Emma was trying everything she could to get her dad to give in.

"What movie?"

 _"The Bourne Movies, if you haven't seen them you really should!"_ Emma said praying her dad had never see them because you actually can watch the first one without feeling the need to watch the second one.

"I've never seen them but Emma you will just have to reschedule with Neal because you're curfew is up in 10 minutes so if I were you I would get moving"

 _"Dad"_

"Emma"

 _"Dad, I'm not coming, I'm finishing the movie and I'll take the punishment"_ And Emma hung up the phone. She knew she was dead.

OUAT

David heard the phone click and the line go dead and he stood in the living room in total shock at his daughters attitude and the way she was talking to him.

"Snow" David said walking toward the door and grabbing his coat before putting on his boots.

"David where are you going?" Our daughter just informed me that she is not going to come home from Neal's because she wants to finish some dumb movie and she hung up on me. I'm going over there and bringing her butt home"

"She what?!"

"Yea! She called and asked us to extend her curfew another hour and I said no and she said she would take the punishment and hung up!"

"I can't believe her! How can she take what we did for her and throw it back in our face?"

"That's how I feel. I'm going to go get her but she is so grounded when I get her here"

"Please try and keep your cool. I want to yell at her too but that's not going to help us have a productive conversation with her"

"I don't know Snow, I think we've gone beyond 'productive conversation' with Emma at this point. I'll be back" and he was off.

OUAT

"I'm dead" Emma said sitting back shocked at her own actions on the phone with her dad.

"If you need a place to stay love, I have plenty of room on my ship" Killian said in a very sly tone.

"Emma you should have just told him the truth" Neal said still speeding toward town to get Emma to his house before her dad realized what they had done.

"Yea, Neal. I'm going to tell my dad I can't come home because I snuck across the town line to a city he's never heard of! That's going to go off much better than what I did!" Emma said as she felt her face get hotter and hotter with every passing minute.

"The lady does have a point Mate. Although her father will be mad at her disrespect, he will be less mad about that than her sneaking across the line" Killian added in trying to bring peace between the two.

"Killian, you just need to butt out right now!" Neal snapped at the pirate.

"Sorry Mate" Killian hissed "Just trying to help you out with the lady" he said sitting back and removing himself from the conversation

"You know what, Killian has a point" Emma said finally breaking the two apart

"Thank you Swan"

Emma shot him a look

"My dad will me less mad about me disrespecting him then crossing the town line. The only issue we have left is getting passed the dwarfs because I'm sure you're dad's sleeping powder as worn off by now"

"MY DAD'S?" Neal yelled

"Sorry, I thought I'd mentioned that. I swept it from his backroom the other day when we were handing out" Emma said sheepishly

"Emma you have got to stop doing this!" Neal exclaimed finally fed up with his friend's antics.

"Neal I'm sorry! But I do have a little bit left so we will see where that get us"

Emma pulled out and looked to see there was only enough fore one dwarf, hopefully that would be enough of a distraction.

OUAT

Charming began banging on the door of Mr. Gold's shop when he found the door locked.

It was only a few moments before Mr. Gold was at the door

"What on earth do you think you're doing?"

"I'm here to pick up my daughter"

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but you're daughter isn't here"

"She told me she and Neal were watching a movie here at your place"

"Well I regret to inform you prince that my son and your daughter have not stepped foot in this shop or my apartment all day"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly that. Neal is not here and neither is your daughter"

"Then where are they?"

"That I do not know but, being that my son is involved I will help you and this time, it's on the house"

David stepped into Gold's shop as Gold went about collecting different items and finally came back over to David.

"This is a tracking spell. I will pour it on this shall that belongs to my son and it will lead us to him and I assume your daughter." Gold explained.

"This better work Gold. And so help me if your son has anything to do with my daughter disappearing I will not hesitate to ring his neck"

"You will do nothing of the sort for I'm certain that your daughter had just as much to do with the pairs disappearance as my son if not more"

"Says the dark one"

"Judge as you may, we all know your daughter is one to find trouble wherever it may lurk"

David ignored the man and quietly followed him and the now floating cloak as it floated out of town.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31 –

 **Emma's luck has finally run out…She wouldn't be our Emma unless she was in trouble.**

Emma felt a sense or relief as she saw the familiar woods leading up to Storybrook. She was hoping that she could get across the town line and far enough into town before her father realized she had crossed the town line.

As they came around the corner she could see the dwarfs had fallen asleep at their post, which gave her a sense of hope because she wasn't going to have to try and put one of them to sleep and they wouldn't call her dad.

They quickly sped across the town line and really hit the gas to try and get back to town. However their luck and finally run out. As the pair sped around the next bend they saw the floating cloak followed by Gold and Charming.

Neal quickly squealed his breaks trying to stop before he ran into the pair with his car. They braced themselves for the crash but thankfully Mr. Gold used his magic to stop the car before anyone was hurt.

The trio simply stared at the pair mouths agape, not exactly sure how to react to what could have been a much worse situation.

David immediately walked around to the passenger side and pulled Emma out of the car and then leaned into the car. He still keeping a tight grip on his daughter while he began to confront the two young men who had helped his daughter cross the town line.

"Both of you are to report to the Police Station at 8am Sharp and I will find you if you fail to do so." David said and then began to walk him and Emma toward his truck leaving Mr. Gold to deal with his son.

David opened the passenger door and helped Emma in. He shut the door and then headed to the drivers side. The ride was a quiet one and Emma was actually grateful for that. She knew her father was fuming and that if he tried to talk now he would go off on her.

Once the arrived at the loft David got out and walked around to the passengers side and grabbed a hold of Emma's arm before closing the door. He wanted to leave no room for Emma to try and take off on him.

The pair walked up the stairs, still silent. Just as they approached the door to the loft it flew open to reveal a very angry Snow White.

"Go sit on the couch and don't you dare try anything" She said in a voice that sent chills down Emma's spine.

Snow watched her daughter walk to the couch before stepping out onto the landing to have a private conversation with David.

"So fill me in" Snow said flatly crossing her arms knowing both of them were eager to go in and deal with their daughter.

"Gold used a tracking spell on an object that belonged to Neal and we caught up to them as they were speeding around the bend just past the town line and about ran us over had Gold not used his magic to stop the car." David's face was getting red as he retold the story "And to add insult to injury they had Killian Jones in the backseat!" He yelled knowing that Emma would be able to hear him.

"I'm rethinking the idea of the tracking bracelet. That girl will not learn her lesson!" Snow said raising her voice as well.

"Let's go in there and see what her side of the story is, although I honestly don't care at this point." David said with his arms now also crossed.

They both took a deep breath before opening the door.

OUAT

Emma sat on the couch feeling her face getting hotter by the minute. How could her dad embarrass her like that?! She was 16 years old. All she wanted was go out and have a little bit of fun with her friends after being cooped up from all of her injuries.

Remembering her injuries made her realize just how sore her ribs were from the abrupt stop of the car so Emma decided to go to the freezer to get some of the frozen peas that had been her constant companion the last few weeks.

Emma continued fuming over her parents 'lack of understanding'. All Emma kept thinking was how if her dad had been a bit more understanding of her wanting to hang out with Neal and let her stay out till 10 they never would have been caught and she would be fuming about the fact that she could hear her parents getting mad just behind the door.

As Emma headed back to the couch the door opened.

"Emma can you just do one thing that we ask?" Snow said exasperated.

"I was just getting a cold pack for my ribs mom, take a chill pill" Emma snapped back.

"Emma Ruth you watch your tone" David said in a very threatening voice. "Now sit"

Emma desperately wanted to plop down on the couch to show her disgust but knew that would only end up hurting her so she resisted the urge and calmly sat on the couch.

Snow sat across from her but David was to frustrated to sit

"Emma I just want to know what the heck you were thinking, more appropriately what you weren't thinking because if you had been you wouldn't have crossed the town line!" David finally exclaimed

"Emma we just talked about how much we loved you and how we needed you to help us keep you safe by obeying what we said and as soon as you get a moment of freedom you go off and break our trust and do something that could have ended very badly" Snow added

"Neal and I have been outside of Storybrook plenty of times and Killian knows how to take care of himself. Do you know how boring it is here?! There is NOTHING to do! All we wanted was a change of scenery for a few hours and you guys couldn't extend my curfew by one measly hour or else neither of you would have ever known that we left and came back!" Emma yelled back

"Speaking of that filthy pirate why did you not tell us he was going to be there?" David said hoping that Emma would realize how big of a whole she was digging for herself.

"He's my friend David" Emma sapped. She knew that calling her father David would hurt him but she was too angry to care.

"It's dad to you young lady"

"I HATE YOU!" Emma screamed before bolting off to her room in tears.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32 –

 **The Bomb has been dropped.**

The couple froze where they were. Snow placed her hand in her head and began to cry while David's head was about to explode.

What Emma didn't know was that Charming and Snow had wanted Emma home so that they could share some exciting news with her. She was going to be a big sister.

Snow and Charming had gone to the doctor earlier in the week after feeling a bit ill and found out that she was 6 weeks pregnant. They were so excited to share the news with Emma but now they felt that she may hate them even more.

"David what are we going to do?" Snow said pulling her head up

"I'm ready to go up there and give her a firm smack on the butt but she's too old for that. Grounding hasn't worked, taking away the things she love's doesn't work. I'm at a loss Snow" David said allowing his frustration to overtake him.

"We just don't understand her yet." Snow fought back.

"What's to understand Snow? She hates us and we can't seem to keep her in line. She won't head our warning and she ignores our punishments. What are we supposed to do?" Charming was yelling at this point.

"David she has been through a lot more than she has told us and we just have to find a place where we can reach a mutual understanding"

"I don't know if that's possible"

"David keep your voice down!" Snow said looking up toward the loft "Now, I think it's time for us to go to bed and let the three of us cool off and we can readdress this tomorrow after Emma get's home from school"

With that the couple was off to their room but David was still upset at the way his daughter had spoke to them.

OUAT

Emma laid in her bed listening to her parents argue knowing that it was all her fault. She didn't actually hate them, she actually loved them, she just didn't know how to show them that.

She heard them go to bed and knew that she couldn't be home when they woke up the next morning. She was ruining their lives. David was right, she was just going to keep messing up and making them angry and she couldn't do that anymore.

She began to move around the loft as quietly as she could gathering her things, making sure to leave behind anything that David or Snow had bought her so that way they could give it to the next little girl that came along.

Emma then waited in her bed until she no longer heard noise in the small apartment. She knew her parents would come looking for her so she left them a note:

 _Dear Mom and Dad,_

 _I know all I do is cause trouble and I don't listen to you and I hate that I've ruined your lives. I hope you guys have another child who you can raise to be the little girl you have always wanted. I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused and the time and money that have been spent. I promise some day, when I have a real job of my own I will find you and pay you back._

 _By the time you find this I will already be with the foster care agent and she should have me being sent to Portland._

 _I want to let you know that I truly did love you and thanks for letting me make some good memories._

 _Emma._

And with that she was off.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33 –

 **Will there be enough time for David and Snow to find Emma or have they lost her forever?**

Charming woke up and simply stared at the ceiling as his mind began to race though everything that had happened last night. He felt so bad for how he had acted. He never meant to yell at Snow or Emma.

Charming felt like a total failure as a father. He loved his daughter more than he could express and all he wanted was to keep her safe but ever since he found her he had failed at every turn. The person he was really mad at is himself, not Snow and Not Emma.

He knew it was time to face the music. He let Snow sleep for a few more minutes while he went to wake Emma up and have a little chat with her.

As he got to the top of the loft he noticed that Emma's bed looked very empty. As he got closer he noticed the small hand written note laid on the pillow and felt a cold sweat begin to run over him as he read through it.

Charming immediately ran down stairs and began to get dressed when he heard his phone ring. He looked down to see it was the foster care agency that had connected him with Emma.

"Hello?" David said in a panic.

"Hello, I need to speak with David Noland"

"This is"

"Hello Mr. Noland. This is Sharon and I am calling because your foster daughter Emma came to us this morning and is asking to be placed in a new home. I need you to come down here and we need to figure this out"

"Of course, I'll be right now there!" David said handing up the phone and finishing getting dressed.

"What is going on Charming?" Snow said rolling over to see her husband rushing around

"Emma ran off thinking she ruined our lives." He said handing her the note

"Thankfully she went to the foster agency so they have her there but she told them she wants a new placement. With everything going on I didn't even realize that we hadn't officially adopt her, which is required in this world. But after today that's not going to happen. I'll call you and give you an update" he said leaning over and giving her a kiss before heading out.

OUAT

Emma sat in Sharon's office feeling very nervous. She hadn't thought that Sharon would call David, she figured she would just place her and send her off. She really didn't want to see her father.

Sharon hung up the phone and looked at Emma. "Alright Emma, David is on his way. So explain to me why you want a new placement? Other than the accident, things have gone really well for you here in Storybrook."

"I don't think they want me anymore" Emma said looking at the floor.

"Have they said anything to make you think that?" Sharon asked trying to get more information from Emma.

"No, but I know when I'm not wanted, I figure it hurts less if I just get rid of myself" Emma said trying to make her point

"Emma you know that's not how this works. You really have a good home here, I would hate to have to place you again" Sharon Said

"Well, I am old enough to be emancipated now" Emma chimed in

"That is an option, but that takes a long time. But Emma I think once we get David here and talk to him you'll see things differently" Sharon said looking up to see David walking toward her office.

"Emma! Thank God you're okay!" David said walking into Sharon's office.

"Go ahead and have a seat Mr. Noland" Sharon said glad to see that David was excited to see Emma. "Emma and I had a chat this morning and she shared with me that she think's you don't want her to live with you anymore"

"Sharon that couldn't be further from the truth! I recently got married and my wife and I have been talking about it and we want to go ahead with adoption." David said in a bit of a panic.

"You what?" Emma looked at him in shock

"Emma, I don't care if it takes me a hundred years to get it though your head, I love you. I will always love you. And there is nothing that you could do to change that" David said turning toward Emma and placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Well I'm very glad to hear that Mr. Noland. I think that is a great idea. I'm going to go ahead and draw up the paperwork you'll need to start the adoption process but I will need your wife's signature to complete the process."

"I'll call her right now!" David said pulling out his phone "She's on her way!"

"Glad to hear it. I'll be right back" Sharon said excusing herself and giving David and Emma a moment alone.

"Emma, honey, what's going on? Please talk to me!" David said turning to Emma.

Emma sat looking at the floor in silence

"Emma I'm sorry I yelled last night. Honestly I was feeling like a failure. I felt like I had failed you and I hated myself for it"

David noticed Emma's shoulders start to move and shortly he heard a whimper until Emma threw herself into David's arms and began sobbing.

"I thought you hated me for what I said. I didn't want to hurt you anymore!" Emma said through her tears.

"Emma, you can tell me you hate me as much as you want, but I will always love you. I understand that sometimes things are hard and you're going to say things you don't mean. But that will never change my love for you"

"Or mine"

The two looked up to see Snow standing in the doorway crying. Charming grabbed her hand and directed her to join him and their daughter and the three shared a precious moment before Sharon came back.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34 –

 **Time to make Emma Swan officially Emma Noland**

Sharon returned with the proper paper work happy to see a Smile on Emma's face.

"Emma why don't you step out and grab yourself something to drink while I go over the boring stuff with your parents?" Sharon said

Emma knew that Sharon wanted to talk to her parents privately but she was fine to go and get a drink and compose herself.

Once Emma was out of earshot Sharon turned to the Noland's. "Mr. and Mrs. Noland I could not be happier that you have chosen to adopt Emma! I'm just curious where she might have gotten the idea you two did not want her?"

"Last night Emma decided to run off with some of her friends and I caught them trying to make it back home and I lost my temper. I know she over heard me saying to my wife that I felt like we were at a loss as to how to handle her and I think she took it the wrong way. I love her! I just was frustrated that I felt like I was failing as a parent" David explained hoping he wasn't shooting himself in the foot.

"I understand. Emma is a special case and she has the strongest will of any child I have ever met but I think you both are doing a great job with her and I'm even more excited that you have chosen to move forward with adoption!" Sharon said.

They finished up their conversation just as Emma walked back in.

"I'll need you to sign here and here and then you guys are free to go and I'll call you with the official court date that will make the adoption official!" Sharon said

"Thank you so much!" Snow said as she signed the paper and handed it over.

"Time to take my little family home!" David said as they all stood up and headed out the door.

OUAT

The ride home was short and quiet but once they got home David knew it was time to have a talk.

As soon as they got in the door David put a hand on Emma's shoulder to keep her from running off to her room. Instead he directed her toward the couch.

"Emma, I need to apologize to you" David started.

Emma stared at him in disbelief. She thought he was going to yell at her for going to Sharon or for telling them she hated them. Even though her parents had been sweet in front of Sharon, she knew that once they were home it could be a very different story.

"Emma I was feeling like I failed you as a parent and instead of me and your mom talking about how we can be better parents I took it out on you and I'm sorry." David said leaning in so Emma knew he really meant it

"Emma we love you and we were so scared when we read your note. If I had known we had to adopt you in order to make it all official in this land I would have done it as soon as I got my memory back" Snow added

"I just figured you guys were waiting it out to see if I was worth it" Emma said trying to find any place to look except at her parents.

"Emma I don't know what it's going to take to get through to you but I mean it, we will prove to you that you mean everything to us and there is nothing you can do to change that" David said taking Emma's head into his hands to force Emma to make eye contact.

Emma began to cry, she hated crying in front of her parents but this time she couldn't' help it. She didn't even realize she was crying until David wiped away one that had hit his thumb.

"Emma we love you and we are so excited for you to officially become Emma Noland!" Snow said wrapping her arms around Emma.

The three embraced each other for a moment until Emma finally pulled herself away.

"And I need to apologize to you both. I don't hate you. Actually, I know I don't say it really ever but, I love you both" Emma said immediately looking down incase her parents didn't like what she said.

Snow took her opportunity to make eye contact with Emma this time and lifted her head to meet her eyes.

"We know that Emma. We knew that you never meant that and we know that you love us because even when you don't say it, you show it in different ways"

Emma reached out and wrapped her arms around her mother. This is what Emma had always wanted, a family.

The three enjoyed their moment but David knew he and Snow also had to confront Emma on her actions.

"Emma, we need to talk about what happened yesterday" David said knowing that the change in topic was not going to be easy.

"Emma why would you think that it is okay to go across the town line without telling us?" Snow asked sincerely

"I just wanted to experience some of the things I remember from when I lived outside of Storybrook. I've been stuck in the house for so long recovering from the accident and I honestly just wanted to do something fun" Emma explained.

"Can't you do something fun within the town lines?" David asked

"There isn't much to do here dad, it's boring" Emma said sheepishly

"Well we need to figure out a way to make it more fun because from now on you are no longer allowed to come within 100 feet of the town line." Snow said seriously but kindly

"Emma we had Gold put up a barrier spell that will keep you and Neal within the town lines unless you are accompanied by myself or your mother. We hate having to do that but we think that is what is best right now" David explained

"What's a barrier spell?" Emma asked not fully understanding her punishment

"The barrier spell keeps you from being able to cross the town line. If you get less than 100 feet away from that line you will be detained until your mother and I come and release you." David explained.

"So I have a leash?" Emma asked again not liking the sounds of this spell

"No, you have a gate that you can be within but it is locked from the outside so you can't get out" Snow tried to make it sound as good as she could.

Emma really didn't like the feeling of being trapped but she also knew that she had been asking for them to do something like this with her actions so it served her right.

"You are also grounded to your mother and I for the next month" David added in. "That means you are not allowed to go anywhere where your mother or I are not present. You need to earn our trust back Emma and until then we need to keep an eye on you"

"I understand" Emma said looking down at the ground.

"We don't like punishing you Emma. We wish that we could trust you but you haven't shown us that we can. Once you prove to us that you can be responsible and live with our rules we can give you more freedom which we really do want to give you." Snow said putting her hand on Emma's knee.

"Emma we love you" David added

"I know" Emma said still staring at the floor.

Snow decided that they didn't need to push the topic and it was time to move on.

"How are you feeling after everything yesterday?" Snow asked

"I'm a little sore" Emma replied

"Why don't you lay down and your father and I will get you some food and then we'll get you some ice and a few pain killers" Snow said smiling at her daughter.

"Okay, can I watch TV?" Emma asked hoping they would say yes

"I don't see why not" David said with a smirk

The couple then headed off to the kitchen while Emma reached for the remote. They were so excited to officially make Emma their daughter in this world and hopefully show her that they did indeed want her to be theirs forever.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35 –

 **Hopefully this adoption shows Emma that Snow and Charming really do love her! Also, we haven't seen or heard from our Evil Queen for a while :)**

Emma returned to school the next day and had a lot of homework to catch up on. She hated homework much less extra homework but now that she had to spend every waking moment with her parents and not her friends she had plenty of time to catch up.

After school Emma headed down the hall to her mom's classroom but her mom was nowhere to be found. She figured her mom had stepped out to deal with a student or something so she found a desk and started working on her homework.

A half hour or so passed and Emma was starting to wonder when her mom was going to be coming back. Her dad hadn't mentioned that he would be picking her up and if he was he would have come by the room by now. Emma decided to walk the halls to see if there was any sign of her mother.

OUAT

David was able to worry less at work about his family now that the barrier spell had been put up. He hated doing it to Emma but it sure did give him a peace of mind that she could no longer cross the town line.

He finished up the last of his paperwork, which he was able to catch up on thanks to a very slow day in the office. He then moved on to the adoption paperwork that Snow had asked him to work on if he found the time.

Even though David Noland understood why they had to go through this process Charming found it foolish that he had to adopt his own daughter. However he knew that this step would finally make Emma feel like she was his true daughter and not simply a foster child who he could ship off at any moment.

He found the paperwork rather simple and filled out the last of it before deciding to call Snow and let her know he was headed home after he dropped the papers off to Sharon when he looked down at his phone to see Emma calling.

OUAT

Emma stepped out of the classroom and began to look around but saw no sign of her mother. She saw a few of the other teachers and asked if they had seen her mother and they told her they had last seen her in the parking lot doing her crosswalk duty but that she should have been back by now.

Emma decided to head outside starting to feel worried about her mom. As soon as she stepped outside she saw Regina and her mother yelling at one another. Emma ran back in the building and found a window where she could observe and immediately called her father.

 _"Hey Em, how was school?"_

"You need to get to the school right now!" Emma said in a panicked voice

 _"Emma what's going on?"_ David asked concerned

"Regina is here and her and mom are arguing in the middle of the street"

 _"Emma where are you?"_

"I'm inside the school but…"

 _"Emma stay right where you are and don't move, I'm on my way do you understand me?"_ David said in his dad voice

"Yes Sir"

 _"I'll be right there"_

Emma hung up the phone and kept a watch on the two to make sure that Regina didn't hurt her mother.

OUAT

"You leave my daughter out this" Snow hissed at Regina

"What? That poor little orphan that you and Charming are housing? She may have been your daughter in the enchanted forest but she isn't here" Regina snapped back.

"She will always be my daughter" Snow yelled getting in Regina's face

"Watch it you spoiled little princess" Regina said stepping into Snow and causing her to back off. "Your daughter has magic and I will destroy it. I will get my happy ending"

"If you lay a finger on my daughter so help me I will find you and I will make sure you are punished"

"You and what army?"

Just then the police car sped into the parking lot and David jumped out running toward the pair of women

"Regina leave my wife alone"

"Well if it isn't the imposter prince"

"David how did you know to come?" Snow asked him ignoring Regina for the moment

"Emma called me she came looking for you"

"Is she okay?"

"Yes she's in the school"

"Well thank you Charming, now I know where to pick up my prize" And with that Regina poofed into the school to find Emma.

David and Snow bolted for the door to try and find Emma before Regina did but they walked in to see a very frightened Emma being stared down by Regina.

"Regina leave her alone!" David yelled

"Dad!" Emma said unable to contain the fear in her voice

"It's going to be okay Emma just keep looking at me okay?" David said trying to calm his daughter down

"You're father is wrong, I'm going to destroy you" Regina said raising her hand

Emma put up her hands to block Regina from hitting her and suddenly a huge flash of white light filled the area and forced everyone backward. It was quick and powerful. When everyone began to look around Emma was still in the same position she was in with her eyes closed. Somehow Emma had wielded magic without even trying.

This gave David just enough time to apprehend Regina while Snow went and checked on Emma to make sure she was okay.

"Emma? Emma it's okay I'm here you're okay you can open your eyes everything is okay!" Snow said wrapping her arms around Emma and using her body to shield her from Regina.

"Mom? What just happened?" Emma said. Her face said it all, she was beginning to panic.

"I'll explain later. Right now I want to get you back to my classroom." Snow said beginning to lead Emma away while making sure that Charming had Regina under control.

"DAD! Is dad okay?" Emma suddenly busted out trying to fight her mother to go back to check on him.

Snow thankfully was able to keep a hold of Emma and keep her from running after Charming. "Emma I'm just fine" David shouted loud enough for Emma to hear him.

Emma calmed a bit and relaxed against her mother's hands. "Emma, I want you to go with your mother and I'll come back for you both in a little while" David said moving Regina toward the door.

With that Snow ushered Emma toward her room.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36 –

 **Poor Emma is probably traumatize, but thankfully this time she had enough forethought to call her father instead of trying to go out there. And now that she has magic what will happen?**

Snow got Emma to her classroom and quickly shut and locked the door before ushering Emma to sit in her office chair. Emma was starting to go pail so Snow grabbed a small bag of goldfish she had stored in her desk and handed them to her.

"Emma I need you to eat these for me" Snow said in a forceful voice

"Mom what just happened" Emma asked flatly staring straight ahead

Snow saw the signs of Emma going into shock and got a bottle of water and forced it into Emma's hand

"Emma, Emma look at me" Snow said putting her hands on either side of Emma's face. "You're going to be okay, I need you to eat these goldfish and drink this water for me. You're dad will be back here in a minute do you understand?"

Emma seemed to snap out of it long enough to hear her mom and she looked down at the snack and the water in her hand and began to open the water which gave Snow a bit of relief.

While Emma ate her snack Snow got together the rest of her things in preparation to head home. She didn't worry about cleaning up her classroom because her main concern was getting Emma home and keeping her safe.

Emma opened the bag and started eating the small snack crackers but didn't say a word.

David came to the door within a few minutes and Snow went and let him in.

"Snow are you okay?" David ran in hoping that all of this had not disturbed the baby

"I'm fine where is Regina?" Snow asked after giving Charming a glare, they hadn't told Emma about the baby yet and Snow did not want her finding out like this.

"I have Regina locked up in the back of my cruiser. Thankfully Rumple helped me out when we first got here and gave me a cuff to put on her that keeps her from using magic and it is unable to removed by the individual it was put on so she is not going to be a problem"

David then looked over at his daughter and saw the beginning stages of shock and immediately went over to her to see how he could help.

"Hey Em, you're safe. She is all locked up and thankfully you were wearing your bracelet that we gave you so she can't touch you" He said trying to bring her some peace

Emma continued to stare off into the distance slowly putting crackers into her mouth.

"Emma, look at me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You're safe now okay? You're mom's going to take you home and I'm going to take Regina to the station and then we will have a family game night how does that sound?"

"Okay" Emma replied taking another sip of the water

David walked over to Snow. "I want you both to go to the hospital and get checked out."

"David we're fine" She's just in shock. Once she gets that snack and water into her she'll be fine. We just need to give her time"

"I want to make sure none of this effected you guys" looking at Snow's Stomach, "Or agitated Emma's injuries"

"If it will make you feel better…"

"It really will"

"Okay, we will go get checked out. Go lock up Regina and meet us at the hospital"

Charming kissed snow and then walked over to his daughter.

"Mom's going to take you both to get checked out and I'll meet you there okay Em?"

"Okay"

Emma's thoughts were running a million miles a minute. What had just happened? What had she done? What if that happened and she hurt her family? She really didn't like having…magic.

Charming kissed the top of her head and headed out the door.

Snow grabbed the last of her things as well as Emma's before getting on her coat and heading over to help Emma put on hers.

"Emma, I need you to put on your coat and then we're going to go get check out okay? Everything is going to be fine" She said making eye contact with her daughter.

"Okay" Emma said barely reaching out and grabbing her coat out of her mom's hands.

Emma didn't want to touch her because she was so afraid that she would hurt her.

Snow was shocked at how abruptly Emma ripped the coat from her hand but she could understand why Emma was so timid.

She gathered their things and guided Emma out the door.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37 –

 **Our poor Emma, let's get her checked out and finally tell her the good news.**

Snow drove straight to the hospital while Emma continued to stare off in silence. She was actually glad that David had suggested they get checked out because now she was starting to worry about Emma as well.

She parked the car and got out but Emma didn't move. Snow walked round to her side of the car when Emma hit the door lock button effectively locking Snow out of the car.

"Emma unlock the door. We need to go inside"

"I'm not going in there"

"Emma we need to make sure that your injuries weren't effected by your use of magic"

"I can't go in there"

"Emma, come on, it's all going to be okay"

"I can't go in there, I don't want to hurt anyone else"

"Emma you didn't hurt anyone"

"I hurt you, that's why we're here"

"No you didn't, we're here because your father asked me to get us both checked out and he is coming here and he's going to get checked out too. It's just a precaution"

Emma just sat in the car holding down the lock button so Snow stepped a little ways away from the car and called Charming.

"Charming, are you almost here?"

 _"Just pulled in are you two okay?"_

"We're fine but Emma locked herself in the car, she thinks that she is going to hurt someone if she gets out"

 _"Where are you at?"_

"Level 2 in the parking garage by the stairs"

 _"I see you"_

Snow hung up the phone as charming pulled up. Thankfully there was a parking spot next to Snow where he could park.

"Hey, Emma" David said walking up to the window. "You didn't hurt anyone, we just want to get you checked out to make sure you didn't hurt yourself okay?"

Emma sat there for a minute thinking about what her dad said but was still too scared to open the door.

"Come on Em, I promise we will go get Hot Chocolate with Cinnamon on top from Grannie's afterwards okay?" David said hoping his bribe would work.

Finally they heard the doors unlock and David immediately grabbed the door handle before Emma had a chance to change her mind. She stepped out the car but still kept her distance from her parents.

Once they got in Dr. Wale got Emma in a room and looked at her ribs and checked her vitals and everything looked fine but as a precaution he had some saline be pumped into Emma to combat any dehydration or other effects that the magic may have had on her body.

David came in once the IV was hooked up

"Hey princess, how are you feeling?"

"Better"

"Good! You're mom and I got checked out and we're all good! You're mom headed home to start dinner and you and I will stop off at grannies as soon as they are done giving you this stuff" David said with a smile

"I hurt her didn't I?" Emma said not making eye contact.

"No Emma you didn't"

"She's mad at me, that's why she went home without me"

"That is not true Emma. I sent her ahead because I wanted to spend some time with you"

"You're lying"

"Emma I promise you I'm not lying. Your mom is just fine."

Emma still didn't believe him so she sat there in silence as the bag of saline finished being pumped into her.

Dr. Wale disconnected the IV and gave her the all clear to head home. David guided her to the cruiser and they headed straight to Grannies. When they got there David made sure that Emma got out first so she couldn't lock herself in the car again.

They got their Hot Chocolate's and David got a Coffee for himself before they walked back out to the cruiser.

"Why did I hurt mom?" Emma finally spoke

"You didn't hurt her Em, what you did was magic. Unfortunately you don't know how to use it yet but we're going to figure this out"

"How do I get rid of it?"

David hated that he didn't have an answer for his daughter but he simply said "I don't know Em"

Emma then got into the car and sat staring off like she had been for the past two hours. David felt so lost because he didn't know how to communicate with his daughter and meet her where she was at.

He threw the car into drive and they headed home.

OUAT

The pair got home and Emma took off to her room.

"Emma?" Snow said with no luck of getting her to slow down

"She is convinced she hurt you" David said coming in and shutting the door.

"It's time to tell her" Snow said taking David's hand and the two headed upstairs to Emma's room.

"Hey Emma. I'm glad to hear you're okay" Snow said sitting on the bed next to Emma and beginning to rub her hand on her back.

"Hey Emma, you're mom and I have some exciting news for you"

Emma rolled over to face them but she figured it was a manipulation tactic to get her to talk but decided to play along anyway.

"Emma, you're father and I didn't want to tell you until we got to all be together and with everything going on, we haven't had a good time so we decided it's better late then never"

"We want to let you know that you're going to be a big sister!" David said "You're mom's pregnant!"

Emma let a small smile come across her face and then suddenly she got scared. "That's why we went to the hospital, I hurt the baby"

Emma started to back away to try and run but David stood up and put his hands on her shoulders.

"No, no, no, Emma. The baby is fine but I was worried about you going into shock and I didn't know if the force of your mother being thrown hurt her or the baby and I wanted you both checked out and both of you…all three of you are just fine" David said before hugging Emma.

"Emma you mean just as much to us as this new baby, we care about both of your safety equally. We went to the hospital because we were worried about you." Snow said rubbing Emma's back again.

"So I didn't hurt anyone?" Emma said

"No Emma you didn't hurt anyone. We're going to figure out a way to help you learn how to use your magic so you don't have to be scared of hurting anyone okay?" David said taking her face in his hands.

"Okay" Emma said

David kissed the top of her head. "Now I want to spend a fun night with my girls so lets go down stairs and eat and then we can play a game okay?"

"Sounds good to me! How about you Em?"

"Okay!"

And the three headed down stairs.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38 –

 **Emma is going to be a great big sister and an even better helper for her mom to prepare for the baby! And soon they will all have the same last name! They are finally becoming a real family!**

Within two weeks of turning in the final paperwork Sharon called with an official court date so that Charming and Snow could officially adopt Emma! Emma was actually looking forward to becoming Emma Noland instead of Emma Swan because it made her feel closer to her parents and her soon to be brother or sister.

Emma started to enjoy helping Snow get ready for the new baby. They would pick up a few things here or there on their shopping trips and she helped David put together the ever-confusing baby crib.

Snow was finally starting to show being at 10 weeks or so which made it fun to be able to tell the rest of the town the exciting news.

Emma was finally making her way to the end of her "Grounded to mom and dad" sentence but it hadn't been smooth sailing exactly and Emma had managed to get another week of punishment tacked on.

During lunch on a Friday Emma and Neal found an unmanned door and made a run for it hoping to be back by their next class knowing that the likelihood was pretty much zero but Emma convinced Neal to go with her to see if her parents had really put up a boundary spell or if they were using it as a scare tactic. To Emma's slight shock and awe it was definitely real and Emma was effectively wrapped up in tree branches unable to free herself.

Neal ended up having to go into town and tell David what the pair had done so that he could let Emma free of the branches.

David was not surprised that Emma had eventually tried to test her boundary but he figured it would be in the middle of the night not in the middle of the school day. He brought her back with him to the station and made her finish her homework at the empty desk while he did paperwork. Thankfully she had decided to cause trouble on a slow day.

OUAT

Today was the day, Charming and Snow had hardly been able to sleep they were so excited. Today was the day that Emma Swan became Emma Noland and all would be right with the world!

They went into Emma's room with breakfast to wake her up. Emma was not a morning person so the breakfast was kind of a peace offering.

"Good morning Emma!" Snow said opening the door to find a sleeping Emma sprawled about the bed.

David walked over and picked her up in his arms and set her up in the bed and sat next to her "Hey Em, we brought you breakfast."

Emma flopped over onto David obviously awake but not willing to act as such.

"Come on Emma, we have our court date today!" Snow said moving Emma's hair out of her face.

Emma responded with a groan and grabbed the muffin off the tray and took a bite while still laying on David's shoulder. After she had finished off the muffin she finally used real words. "Can I just stay here?"

"Emma you have to be there in order to be adopted" David said slightly taken a back by Emma's resistance

"And it's the day we become a family and it just wouldn't be the same without you" Snow added

"Well can we do it later? I'm so tired"

"Em why are you tired? You went to bed at nine" David said confused

"It took me a long time to get to sleep"

"When I checked on you at 9:30 you were out honey" Snow said

"Well it wasn't restful sleep" Emma said

"Emma" David said pulling away causing Emma to have to sit up. He then made eye contact with her

"What?" Emma said pulling the tray closer. "Can't a girl just be tired?" and shoved a huge bite of pancakes into her mouth.

"I don't you did something but I'm going to let you slide till tonight but this talk is not over" David said staring Emma down so she knew he was serious.

"I have nothing to tell you" Emma said shoving another huge bite into her mouth.

"Sure you don't" David said taking a strawberry off her plate.

"Hey!" Emma said leaning forward to guard her food

"Alright Emma finish up your breakfast and get dressed in something nice" Snow said with a smile as she and charming exited the loft.

Once they were out of ear shot in the kitchen Charming finally let out the laugh that he has been containing.

"Oh my word, I have never seen her look so guilty!"

"It was funny, especially when she started stuffing her face!" Snow added

"I really hate that we're going to have to extend her punishment because you know she snuck out last night and whatever you saw was blankets and pillows. I just hope she didn't do anything too stupid" David said taking a bite of his own pancakes

"Oh I know, at least we know she stayed in town this time" Snow added.

"That's true. Today is going to be a good day"

Charming kissed the top of Snow's head before heading off to take a shower.

OUAT

The 'Trail' as it were was quick and Emma was officially declared adopted by Snow and Charming and became Emma Noland. Their little family was finally together and nothing could change that now.

They celebrated with a potluck at Grannies which of course included Hot Chocolate with Cinnamon. Emma was shocked at the overwhelming love and support they had from everyone in Storybrook. Although she knew everyone adored her parents, she was shocked at the number of people that came up to her and said how excited they were that she wasn't going to have to leave. It made her feel like she finally had a real home.

Eventually all the adults had broken off into their groups and were talking while Emma, Neal, Killian, and August all found a booth and began a game of Dutch Blitz. Emma noticed that her dad kept looking back at them every few minutes, he was always overprotective when it came to boys. Emma found some humor in it but it was mostly annoying so she tried to ignore it so she could focus on the task at hand, whipping these boys butts at her favorite game.

OUAT

Emma had won two games and then everyone started to leave and before long it was just her and August in the booth while her parents said their final farewells to the rest of their guests.

"So it's official, no more foster home, no more case workers, how does it feel?" August asked

"It feels…new. I mean, I'm excited to finally have my parents and a family but it's a bit weird to think that this is the last home I'll ever have" Emma replied taking her hot chocolate into her hands.

"You'll get used to it, it's actually kind of nice to know you have a roof over your head that isn't going anywhere"

"That is true. But the stranger thing is going to be when the baby comes. I know my parents love me but they didn't get to raise me from a baby and now this new kid…well they'll have all they wanted"

"The nice thing will be though you'll be able to sneak out easier" August said with a sly grin

"That my friend I am looking forward to!" Emma replied

Just then David walked up eyeing the young man on the other side of the booth. "What are you looking forward to Em?"

"Being a big sister of course!" Emma said looking at August with a relieved look

"Well it's time for us to head out" David said putting his hand on Emma's shoulder to guide her out of the booth. It was no secret how he felt about August after he had snuck into Emma's room the night that the curse was broken and he hadn't forgotten in the slightest.

"See you later Emma" August said. "I should head home"

"Yes you should, I'll call you're dad to make sure you made it safe August" David said staring the young man down.

"Thank you Mr. Noland but that won't be necessary"

"Oh I think it is, run along home now"

"Goodnight" August said a bit annoyed at David for making him feel like a kid.

"Goodnight August, let's go Emma" David said as he guided her over to where Snow was gathering her things.

OUAT

They walked in the door and Emma was hoping they had forgotten about this morning's little banter over breakfast and she would be able to slip off to bed but David had not forgotten.

Emma started to walk up the stairs before David called after her "Emma go ahead and change and put your things away and come back down, we need to talk"

Emma knew she was trapped, but she wasn't going to go down without a fight. She took a bit longer then she knew she should have to get changed into some comfy clothes and put her things away but she needed the time to come up with a good excuse for why she was tired.

"Emma what's taking you so long honey?" Snow called up the stairs breaking Emma's concentration

"I'll be right there." She replied before bolting down the stairs. She didn't want to give her parents any other reason to question her.

She walked down to see her parents sitting at the table waiting for her. She felt her stomach fly into her throat but she did her best to keep her cool as she sat down at the table.

"Emma, it's time to talk about this morning," David said

"I figured, but I already told you, I was just tired and I didn't sleep well," Emma said as calmly as she could manage.

"Did you have a nightmare that woke you up?" Snow asked deeply wanting to be wrong about her daughter sneaking out

"No" Emma said looking down at the floor before taking a deep breath and hoping she could pull this out.

"I was up late watching Netflix" she blurted out without making eye contact. "I heard you coming and I paused the video and rolled over so it looked like I was sleeping but I really wanted to finish my movie and I stayed up later than I should have"

David and Snow looked at each other. They figured it was a plausible option and it would make sense why Snow hadn't thought to go into Emma's room further to check on her but David still felt like everything wasn't quite adding up.

"Emma, why didn't you just tell us about it?" David asked feeling like that would have come up this morning.

"I knew you guys would be mad if you found out that I was staying up late to watch a movie when we had the court date today" Emma lied again not making eye contact.

David was calling it, this was bull. Emma would have told them she stayed up too late watching a movie last night if that was all it was, he had to go with his gut, she had snuck out.

"Emma, I'm going to give you one last chance to come clean about what you really did last night because I'm not buying that you were up late watching Netflix on your phone" He said staring her down.

Emma began to sweat, she really thought she would be able to get away with this and that they would be happy with the Netflix excuse but now she had to think and fast. What else could she say that her parents might buy that didn't give away she had snuck out?

"Emma, I'm waiting" David said never taking his eyes off his daughter

"What do you want me to say?" Emma replied "I told you I was watching Netflix"

She thought she would give it a final try, anything that wouldn't land her with another week added to her punishment.

"Emma I know you snuck out last night" David finally blurted out, he was getting tired of waiting for Emma to confess.

"I what?" Emma played dumb

"Emma, you were exhausted this morning because you snuck out right?" Snow said. She too was getting a bit fed up with Emma's antics.

"I…" Emma didn't know what to say. How in the world did her parents know she had suck out? They hadn't even woken up, she knows, she checked.

"Emma, if anything but the truth comes out of your mouth we're tacking on another month to your punishment. I'm going to ask you one more time, What were you really doing last night?"

Emma was shocked. She thought she was so clever but apparently not clever enough.

"Fine, I snuck out and me and the guys watched a movie in Killian's room at Grannies. It went a little later then I thought it would"

Emma couldn't believe she had just told her parents that. She realized as the words passed her lips this was not going to end well.

David's face turned as red as a beat. He couldn't imagine where Emma got the idea that it would be okay to go off and be in a room alone with three boys without him knowing about it.

"Dad please don't be upset. I know how you feel about this but they are my friends, nothing happened, we watched the movie and we all went home." Emma said trying to defuse her father's anger.

"Emma Ruth, what were you thinking?" Snow finally found her words

"I was thinking I missed my friends and I wanted to get away from you two. Don't get me wrong I love you guys but I haven't been away from either of you in three weeks and I had to get out!" Emma said knowing she was probably only digging a deeper hole for herself.

"Emma, I want you to go up to your room and you're mom and I will let you know what you're punishment is" David said without looking at his daughter

OUAT

"I'm going to kill them" David said as soon as Emma was out of ear shot. "I told August that I didn't like him and I can't figure out how she keeps wrangling Neal into her crazy idea and I just don't like Killian period."

"David you need to calm down honey, I'm just as upset as you are but we have to keep a clear head if we're going to deal with this properly." Snow said reaching over and putting her hand on Charming's arm.

"Snow what are we going to do? We have grounded her to only being able to be with us, we put up the boundaries spell. I mean the only other thing we haven't tried is chaining her to one of us so that we always know where she is. I'm at a loss!" Charming said frustrated.

"I know. She is stubborn and sneaky and disobedient but she has a heart of gold. We just need to figure out how to communicate in a way that she can understand and can break through that ever loving thick head of hers."

"You're right. But I'm just scared that we're going to lose her again." David admitted to his wife.

"I feel the same way. We will keep her safe, even if it means going to extreme measures, we will do it" Snow reassured her husband.

That was something Snow loved about her and Charming's relationship, whenever one of them was down the other was always there to help pick them up. They always saved each other, always. This time would be no different, they would save their daughter from any danger that may threaten her, no questions asked, she just needed Charming to remember that now.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39 –

 **Our Charming Family is at a cross roads, how do they keep their daughter safe while still allowing her to be a typical 16 year old?**

Charming and Snow got ready for bed but Charming knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep, not when he knew that Emma had snuck out the night before. All he wanted to do was protect his little girl but that wasn't going to happen if he was asleep.

"We still haven't decided on a punishment for her" Charming said laying down next to Snow

"We could always add another month on to her punishment"

"It hasn't been effective, we have to come up with something that is actually going to get her attention"

"We could always do something extreme, like put a tracking bracelet on her" Snow said tongue and cheek

"Why not?" Charming said rolling over to make eye contact with Snow

"Charming…we can't do that, she's not a criminal" Snow said a bit shocked that Charming was actually serious

"Well she's acting like one"

"She's our daughter, we can't put a tracker on her" Snow said in a very matter of fact tone. "I want to keep her safe just as much as you do but we are not going to make her feel like some hardened criminal."

"Snow, I just want to be able to know where she is and maybe get a notification when she isn't where she is supposed to be. The boundary spell is great but that doesn't keep her in the house in the middle of the night"

"I understand that, that's why I got Red to show me how to track her cell phone" Snow said with a smirk "There is technology in this world that tells us where she is based on the location of that phone which she never leaves home without. This way, she doesn't have to know and you can have your peace of mind"

"Have I told you lately how much I adore you?" Charming said reaching over and kissing her square on the mouth

"So now, we can tack on two weeks more grounding or three I'll let it be your call, and we can make sure she stays where she's supposed to be"

"I think three weeks with the chance of making it two if she can prove we can trust her"

"I think that's a wonderful Idea" Snow said returning Charming's kiss "Now, let's get some sleep, I put my phone on alert for when Emma's phone is moving"

"You never cease to impress me"

OUAT

Emma knew she was in hot water on this one. She knew how her dad felt about August and Killian but she couldn't help who her friends were. She just hoped she still had friends come morning.

Emma honestly did want her parents to see her as a good kid, but she just couldn't seem to resist the temptation of getting to do what she wanted, even if she would have to pay for it later. The thrill of listening to see if her parents were awake when she snuck back in or getting past Grannie to sneak into Killian's room gave her a high like no other.

She braced herself for the worse. Most likely they were going to walk into her room tomorrow morning and strap a tracking bracelet to her ankle or assign grumpy to follow her around and report her every move back to them. She knew that she would deserve whatever punishment her parents decided to hand down but that didn't mean she had to like it.

OUAT

Charming entered Emma's room to see his little girl sound asleep. It was at these moments that Charming could imagine what she looked like as a very small child. She looked so peaceful and perfect.

Charming sat on the bed next to Emma and lightly shook her shoulder.

"Emma, Honey, time to wake up"

Emma groaned and rolled to the far edge of the bed to try and get away from her dad.

"Come on Princess, you gotta go to school"

"I don't want to"

"I know, but you have to, it's kind of required" Charming said jokingly "If you get ready in enough time, we can stop by grannies before I drop you off"

Emma rolled back over to see her dad's smirk plastered on his face. He knew that she couldn't resist grannies hot chocolate with the cinnamon sprinkles on top.

"Fine, but I'm not going to be happy about it"

"That's fine, you don't have to be" Charming laughed "Now get ready, I'm going to go finish breakfast"

With that Charming left Emma to get ready for school.

Emma stared at the ceiling a bit surprised by her dad's happy demeanor. She knew he was not happy about her sneaking out and even more angry about who she snuck out to be with. She figured that the bribe was his way of trying to ease her into her punishment.

OUAT

"Emma, you better be getting ready" Charming yelled up the stairs

"I'll be right there"

Charming plated the eggs and toast he had made for them and set it at the table before going back to get them both a glass of orange juice.

He was really hoping that making breakfast and bribing her with a quick stop at grannies would help make handing down Emma's punishment a bit easier. He just hope that he could keep his own temper under control, he hated that his daughter had been alone with those three boys and he didn't know about it.

Just then Emma came bouncing down the stairs looking as cute as ever, not that he could say that to her because she would think he was treating her like a child.

"You look great Em!" Charming said giving her a hug and a kiss on the head

"Thanks dad" Emma said. David could hear her eyes rolling just by her tone but he didn't care.

"You're welcome, I made eggs and toast, let's eat and get on the road"

The two sat at the table and David figured that it would be better to talk about her punishment here at the loft then in the car when she would have to see people in Grannies and at school.

"Emma, we need to talk about last night"

"I figured you were bribing me for a reason"

"Emma, your mother and I are very disappointed in the choice you made to sneak out as well as the choices you made while you were out. We understand that Neal and Killian and August are your friends but we need you to understand that they are all older than you and it is not okay for you to be alone with them, especially in a hotel room at Grannies where there is no adults to come and check in on you."

"Dad, I understand, but I'm 16, I don't need adult supervision anymore"

"Emma, yes you do, until you are 18 and not living under my roof, you're going to have adult supervision. Also, it's just not smart to be the only girl with three boys"

"Come on dad, that is so old fashioned" Emma said before taking a big bite of her toast

"It is not old fashioned!" Charming said a bit offended by his daughter's words "And that doesn't matter, while you're my kid you're going to just have to deal with your mom and I's old fashioned rules"

"This is unfair" Emma protested spitting crumbs everywhere

"Swallow your food and then speak please. And unfair is making your mother and I worried sick about where you are not being able to sleep at night because we don't know if you're going to be here when we wake up"

"I'm sorry" She said, still spewing crumbs

"Emma, swallow. And thank you. Now, you're mom and I agree, we are adding on three weeks to your punishment so that's a total of two months that you have been grounded without friends. We don't like that so, we are going to give you a chance to earn back some time. If you can prove to us that you can be trusted, we will give you back one week"

"That sounds fair" Emma replied no longer spitting food all over the table

"Good, now, we have to go if you want that Hot Chocolate. Unless you don't want it?" Charming said

"Of course I do!" Emma said quickly stuffing the rest of the food in her face "Done!" She said as best she could without spitting it all out

"What am I gonna do with you kid?" Charming said shaking his head at Emma still talking with food in her mouth like she was a small child

With that the pair quickly grabbed their things and were out the door

OUAT

After school Emma went straight to her mom's room. She really wanted to get that week back because she was over being grounded and was not happy about it be extended.

"Hello Emma, thanks for coming right to my room. I'm assuming your dad filled you in on what we agreed upon for your punishment?" Snow said with her knowing look. Emma always found a reason to come to her mom's room way after she was supposed to in order to try and spend as much time with her friends as she could.

"Yep" She said plopping down in the closest desk

"Well get your homework out, I just have a little bit to do and we'll head home" Snow said walking over and kissing Emma on the top of the head.

Emma was wondering why her parents were showing her so much affection, she just wasn't used to it and it always took her off guard.

"By the way Emma, you're dad and I have a town meeting to deal with a new visitor in town so grumpy is going to be looking after you during the town meeting, please cooperate with him and do not give him trouble" Snow said in her best mom voice.

"What visitor?" Emma was actually surprised her parents were going to let her be at a town meeting that involved real issues

"It's just someone new, you don't need to worry about it" Snow said not liking how interested Emma was getting.

"Mom, if I'm going to be at the meeting I'm going to find out" Emma said confused at why her mom was being so vague

"Oh, no. Emma grumpy is going to watch you down the hall from the meeting room. This isn't something you need to concern yourself with"

"Mom! I wanna know!" Emma protested

"Emma Ruth, you do not speak to me that way"

"I'm sorry! But it's not fair that there is someone in this town that effects everyone and I'm the only one who doesn't get to know!" Emma pouted

"Emma stop it, your father and I will inform you of what you need to know when you need to know it and that is final" Snow said in a no nonsense voice.

Emma just slumped in her chair. She wasn't going to earn her early release fighting with her mom but she really wanted to know who this stranger was.


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40 –

 **Who is in town? What do they want? Emma wants to earn her freedom but will her curiosity get the best of her like it has every other time? It looks like Grumpy is going to have his hands full keeping an eye on Emma.**

The Charming's arrived at City Hall to find Grumpy waiting for them at the door.

"Hey Sister" he said greeting Emma "You ready to go?"

"Thanks again Leroy for keeping an eye on Emma for us" Charming said

"It's no problem, I'm glad I can help"

Snow turned Emma around to make eye contact with her

"Emma, you will listen to Leroy and you will not give him trouble. If he gives us any kind of negative report you can forget about us dropping a week of your punishment understand" Snow said in her mom voice

"Yes mam" Emma replied reluctantly. That week of freedom for Emma was like her parents dangling the proverbial carrot in front of her.

"Alright, we'll see you when it's over. Please try and get your homework done"

With that the couple was off to run their meeting

Emma turned to her new warden "Alright Leroy, tell me what you know"

"Sorry sister I can't do that, you're parents told me they told you what you need to know"

"Come on Leroy! I'm 16 not 6! My parents just don't see that" Emma begged

"You're not gettin' anything out of me. Now you get your homework out, no more stalling"

Emma was slightly impressed that Leroy wouldn't budge but she was more annoyed. She started getting out her homework and then a brilliant idea popped into her head.

"You know Leroy, I guess they don't think you should know either being they picked you to be the only towns person to not be at the meeting. But I'm sure it's nothing" Emma said nonchalantly as she placed her homework on her lap.

"You're not going to get to me sister. Your parents already informed me of all the information that they're sharing so I wouldn't be missing anything. But I do have to give you some credit for trying"

"Dang it! They sure did cover all their bases" Emma said a bit shocked to say the least

"Don't worry your highness, I'm sure that the Prince and Snow will share everything with you when they feel like they can. They've never steered us wrong before"

"You've known my parents for a long time uh?"

"Oh yea! Your mom wouldn't have married your dad if my brothers and me hadn't approved him. We saved Snow from the Evil Queen and then we helped them run the kingdom before the curse" Leroy boasted

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course"

"Did my parents have to send me away?"

"Unfortunately they did. But I promise you sister they didn't want to. They wanted to give you your best chance"

"Wouldn't that have been to stay with them?"

"You would have been cursed along with the rest of us, we needed you to save us which is exactly what you did and we're all really grateful for that. Now it's our turn to save you and make sure you get the best life ever"

Emma simply sat and stared off into oblivion. She hadn't really thought about it like that. She always felt like her parents didn't really want her and that is why they sent her away and then regret it and were over compensating by being over protective.

"You okay Sister?" Leroy said breaking Emma out of her thought bubble

"Yea, sorry. I should probably work on this homework now, thanks"

"Of course"

OUAT

The meeting was over faster then Emma had expected but she was grateful for that because she was hoping that she could catch August or Neal before her parents could pull her away.

Unfortunately Leroy had been given strict orders to keep the boys away from Emma until they came to get her. Neal had tried to come say hi and Leroy all but bit his head clean off. If Leroy was good at one thing, it was following orders.

After everyone had cleared out Charming came over

"How did our girl do Leroy?"

"She did just fine your highness"

"Any issues we should know about" Charming said eyeing Emma

"No Sir, you have a great daughter"

"Well thank you Leroy and thanks for your help, I'll take her from here"

"Sounds good, have a good night"

"You too Leroy"

"Well I'm glad that we got a good report back" Charming said putting his arm around Emma to lead him to where Snow was gathering the last of their things.

"So are you going to tell me what this was all about?" Emma said looking up at her dad

"All you need to know is your mother and I are handling it and there is nothing for you to worry about"

"Dad"

"Emma, we are going to take care of you understand?"

"I understand"

"Alright, go grab a few of those bags by your mom and we'll head home"

Emma did as she was told but she had a plan. She would corner Neal in the lunch room at school tomorrow. She loved that her parents wanted to protect her but she couldn't handle not knowing what was going on

OUAT

Emma was bursting at the seams waiting for the bell to ring so she could bolt off to lunch. It was the only time she got to be with her friends without her parents hovering over her shoulder. Even then there were times when her mom would have lunch room duty which Emma hated because her mom would always find a reason to be by Emma's table.

As soon as the bell rang Emma was like a bullet from a gun. She spotted Neal walking up to the lunch line and made a B line for him before he could start getting food.

"Neal! Corner, Now!" Emma said walking up and grabbing him by the arm and dragging him off to a far off corner of the room for some privacy. "I have to know, who is this stranger who is in town?"

"Emma, you know I can't tell you" Neal said a bit hesitant

"Come on Neal! I have to know! My parents are just over protective"

"Fine! But you better say something nice at my funeral because your dad is going to kill me"

"Well I'm going to kill you if you don't start spilling what you know"

"Regina's mom is here" Neal blurted out as fast as he could knowing that resisting was futile

"Regina has a mother?"

"Well, yea. Anyway, her mother is more evil then she is apparently so we were all told to watch out because she has magic like Regina"

"I have magic"

"That may I remind you, you don't know how to use"

"I can learn"

"From who? My dad? Regina?"

"You're dad would be perfect!"

"Your parents would never allow that"

"They don't have to know! As soon as I get off grounding I'm going to start lessons with your dad"

"Good luck. He never does anything for free and he'll make you make a deal. Please Emma, just let the adults deal with this for once in your life"

"Neal, were is your sense of adventure? We could be the one's to figure out why Regina's mom is here and help our parents!"

"You want to go find out why the person who wants you dead's mother is here? Yea that's a GREAT idea Em" Neal said as sarcastically as he could manage.

"Fine, but I'll show you, I'm not going to just sit back and watch"

"Emma Noland you have lost your mind"

"Whatever"

And with that Emma was off to get in line for lunch but her mind was running a million miles a minute.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41 –

 **Emma still has a full month of grounding in front of her unless she can figure out a way to behave herself and cut it down to three. Will rumple be willing to teach her magic or will he refuse?**

Snow was half way through her second trimester and things were starting to get a little harder for her. She didn't have morning sickness anymore but she was starting to notice her belly getting in the way in ways she had forgotten or hadn't noticed when she was pregnant for Emma. By the end of the school day she had no energy left in her at all.

Emma did her best to help her mom out around the house doing some light house work and helping her throw together dinner. Emma wanted that week back so bad she could taste it and she was going to do whatever it took even if it caused her to explode.

Emma loved her mom but having to carry on conversations about cradle cap and practicing changing a diaper were not interesting at all. As a sixteen year old she would much rather talk about the latest music or movie and who the sexiest man alive was but she did all she could to bite her tongue and show her parents she could be trusted.

Emma decided that tonight at dinner she was going to finally ask her parents what it was going to take to get her parents to agree to lessen her sentence.

OUAT

Charming came home and saw Emma standing at the counter with flower all over her face and it took at he had not to laugh.

"Hey Em, what's going on?"

"Oh hey dad! I'm just making dinner. Mom's in your room taking a nap"

"Making dinner uh? What are you making?"

"Chicken strips and biscuits"

"That would explain the flower" Charming said with a little chuckle

"What flower?" Emma looked at him confused

Charming just laughed and walked over and kissed her on the top of her head before going into his room to check on Snow.

Charming walked into his room and simply stared at his wife as she slept. She looked so beautiful laying there pregnant belly and all. She always looked so peaceful when she slept.

He finally walked over and sat on his side of the bed and began putting his hand through her hair.

Snow rolled over and looked into his eyes as a smile began to spread across her face.

"Hello sweetheart, how are you feeling?" Charming said moving a small hair out of her face

"I'm good…what is that smell?" Snow said not sure what it was but knowing it wasn't good.

"That would be our daughter trying to make dinner. She is covered in flower and she looks like she's five years old. It's adorable" Charming said with a little chuckle.

"Oh no, I have to go help her" Snow said about to get up and run into the kitchen.

"No, no, no, I got it. You need to rest" David said helping Snow lay back down.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure" And with that Charming gave her a kiss and headed off to the kitchen to try and salvage what was left of Emma's attempt of dinner.

OUAT

"What did I forget?" Emma said to herself looking at the lump of white mess in front of her and then back to the cookbook she had propped up on the counter.

"Flour, water, salt…" She listed the ingredients to herself

"Are you listing all the ingredients to add to your wardrobe?" David said coming up behind Emma taking her of guard.

"What?" Emma said looking at her dad confused at why he kept making the off handed remarks.

"Emma, honey you are covered from head to toe" He said trying to brush her off. "Why don't you let me help you out"

"No, this is my gift to you and mom, I can do it!" Emma said trying to shove her dad out of the kitchen

"Emma, I think that this is a very sweet gesture. But why don't you let me help you, it can me a daddy daughter project!"

"Daddy Daughter?" Emma said placing her hand on her hip. She knew her dad saw what she saw, an absolute fail at an attempt to make dinner but she wasn't willing to throw in the white flag just yet

"Yea! You and I don't get much one on one time" David said hoping that she would accept his offer of help.

"Fine, I'm putting you on biscuit duty" Emma said placing her hands a bit too firmly on the flower covered counter causing the white powder to fly into the air and cover more of her face.

David couldn't hold in his laughter anymore and neither could Emma. The kitchen was filled with the sound of their laughter as Charming walked up to his daughter and wiped off her face as best he could

"Alright princess, I'll take it from here" Charming said placing his hands on Emma's shoulders and turning her toward the over where Emma had all the ingredients to make the breaded Chicken.

"That's probably for the best" Emma said

The two then began to share and talk about their day as they finished up. Once everything was in the oven They then worked together to clean up as best they can but Emma figured that they would probably be finding flower in different corners of the house for the next couple of weeks.

The two managed to get a decent looking dinner on the table with very minimal burning of the food. Although, there were a few sacrificial rolls that didn't make it but they considered them collateral damage.

Emma was so excited for Snow to see what she had put together and ran to her room as soon as she finished setting the last table setting.

"Hey Mom!"

"Hey Honey! I heard you made dinner"

"Yea! I mean dad helped a little but it was mostly me" Emma bragged to her mom

"Hey! We were 50/50 partners" Charming said coming into the room protesting Emma's statement

"I did do the meat so I would say we were more 70/40"

"Fine, I'll give you that" Charming relented winking at Snow

"Well I am very excited to taste it!" Snow said smiling at Emma, she hadn't seen her excited about something like this in a very long time.

"Let's go!" Emma said jumping off the bed and heading for the kitchen

"You heard her!" Snow said reaching for Charming to help her out of bed

"I did a lot of work to just so you know" Charming said jokingly protesting Emma's 70/40 comment.

"Of course you did sweetie" Snow said kissing charming and heading toward the dining room.

OUAT

"So…what do you think?" Emma said looking at Snow

"I think it's wonderful!" Snow said and she really meant it

"Good! I'm glad you liked it"

"And the rolls?" Charming said wanting his part of the praise

"They are a bit dry" Snow joked

"Hey!" Charming said acting offended

"What can I say? Emma is a better cook than you" Snow jabbed back

Emma loved watching her parents go back and forth joking with each other. It was so nice to see a couple who could poke fun without tearing each other down and hurting one another.

Once her parents had settled down and everyone was quietly eating their food Emma, decided that now was the best time to ask her parents about her punishment


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42 –

 **Will Charming and Snow feel that Emma has gained their trust back or will they feel that Emma needs to prove herself more? I would love suggestions of where to go with this story. I love all the feedback! You guys are the best!**

Once they each had food on their plate, Emma watched both her parents take a bite and decided that, while their mouths were full she would take advantage and spill her thoughts so that they had a moment to think before they reacted.

"Mom, Dad, I think that I have proven you can trust me and I think I deserve my grounding sentence shortened" Emma blurted out before taking a large bite of a biscuit so that she wouldn't ramble

Snow and Charming with full mouths looked at each other and back at Emma and almost spit their food out in laughter at Emma stuffing an entire biscuit in her mouth.

Once they each had a chance to swallow Charming spoke first.

"Okay Emma, we agreed that if you had shown we could trust you we would think about dropping one week of your grounding."

"Could you consider dropping two weeks?" Emma asked sheepishly knowing she was pushing it a little bit

"Well Emma, that was not part of our deal" Snow said seeing Emma shrink in her chair "But you have been proving that you want to change" She added

"And you have been grounded for almost two months straight" Charming chimed in.

"So are you saying…?" Emma asked not wanting to get her hopes up.

"We're saying that if you can continue to prove yourself through the end of next week, Friday will be your last day of grounding" Snow said smiling at her daughter!

"Are you serious?" Emma said trying no to explode with excitement

"We're Serious" David said delighted to see Emma so happy

"Thank You!" Emma said springing up and wrapping her arms around Charming before pulling back and going back to her seat

"Sorry" Emma said going back to her plate. She was embarrassed that she had allowed herself to show that kind of affection

David got up and kneeled next to Emma "Honey, I love when you hug me, you don't have to apologize for it"

"I just…I don't normally do that…I didn't mean to react that way" Emma said using her fork to push around the food on her plate but not eating it.

"Emma, look at me" David said placing his hand on Emma's chin and bringing her eyes to meet his. "You never have to be sorry for showing how you feel. Understand?"

"Yea, I understand" Emma said as a small smile came across her face.

"Good" Charming said getting up and returning to his food. "By the way, your chicken is very good"

"Thanks" Emma said looking up with a smile. She had never had much of a chance to cook while she was in foster care but it was something she had always wanted to try.

"You guys make a good team if I do say so myself" Snow said looking between her husband and her daughter. "So good in fact, I bet you two could make these dishes disappear"

"I see what you did there Snow! You are trying to trick us into doing the dishes!" Charming protested a bit

"Come on dad, you were all about that 'Daddy Daughter' time earlier" Emma chimed in laughing at her father's reaction

"See Charming, I'm just helping you and Emma bond" Snow said with a smirk

Charming relented and headed toward the kitchen but not before he grabbed Emma's hand to drag her along with him as Snow sat at the table laughing at Charming's antics.

OUAT

Emma woke up on Friday so excited she was ready to burst. All she could think about was getting through the day and hearing her parents tell her she was finally off being grounded and she could finally hand out with her friends.

Although she knew that her parents would still have rules about who she could or couldn't see, she was more excited about contacting Mr. Gold and starting to learn about magic and she really hoped that she could do it all without her parents finding out.

The school day seemed to drag on, it was like some grater power was purposely making time move slower so that her last day of punishment was as long as possible.

As soon as the bell rang Emma was off to her mom's classroom to work on her homework and prove to her mom that she was going to finish strong and earn her freedom.

"Hey Emma! I have a teachers meeting so please stay here in the classroom until I get back" Snow said quickly as she exited the room

Emma was a little shocked at Snow's quick exit because she hadn't mentioned any meeting this morning but this wouldn't be the first time that they called a faculty meeting at the last minute. Either way Emma found a desk and pulled out her homework. She really wanted to get it all done so she had the entire weekend free to be with her friends.

Emma was so concentrated on her homework she was startled to find an older woman standing in front of her desk.

"Oh! Hello" Emma said startled

"Well hello there, and what is your name?" The woman asked

"My name is Cora. I'm looking for someone, do you think you could help me?"

"Um…sure. Who are you looking for?"

"My daughter, maybe you know her, her name is Regina." She said sitting down in the desk next to Emma.

"Wait…you're the evil queen's mom?" Emma said starting to slide away from Cora.

"Yes, but I want to help her. If you can tell me where she is, you would be helping her as well"

"I'm sorry I can't help you, I don't know where she is" Emma said before returning to her homework hoping that Cora would get the hint and leave.

"Are you sure you don't know Emma?"

"I'm sure"

"Well how about you show me around town?" And with that Cora moved her hand and purple smoke engulfed them. When it cleared they were standing in the middle of main street.

"How did you do that?!" Emma said in a panic.

"Magic of course. Now Emma, why don't we search for my daughter?" Cora said starting to walk toward the mayors office

"I'm not going anywhere with you" Emma said beginning to walk away when she felt something begin to wrap around her ankles and wrists.

"Why are you doing this?" Emma yelled

"Because I can't have you running off and telling people I'm here. Now you can cooperate or you can stay wrapped up in that tree, it's your choice."

"They already know you're here! Everyone knows you're here" Emma yelled back at her

"Is that so? Well I guess I need you more than I first thought"

OUAT

"Emma, I'm so sorry that meeting took so long! I promise I'll make it up to you" Snow said coming into the classroom in a hurry before looking around and realizing Emma was no where to be found.

"What is that girl thinking? Her grounding ends tonight, couldn't she have waited one day before running off?" Snow said to herself before picking up her phone to call David.

 _"Perfect timing, I'm just about to shut things down here at the station"_ David said answering the phone

"Your daughter ran off again" Snow said annoyed

 _"Are you sure she didn't just go to the bathroom?"_ David replied really wanting to think the best of his daughter

"I'm sure David, she's not here and she left her homework out on the desk. I think Neal or one of the boys came and talked her into running off." Snow said annoyed that David was trying to defend her

 _"I'll start looking, but Snow, I don't think she ran off, it just doesn't seem right"_ David said

"Well let me know if you find her, I'm going to gather her things and head home incase she is there"

 _"I will, I love you Snow"_

"I love you too" And with that she hung up the phone and gathered her things.

OUAT

"Why are you doing this?" Emma got out before Cora tied the gag around her mouth

"My dear, I have my reasons but you don't need to know them" Cora said tying the knot. "There, now you stay put and I'll come back and check on you later"

With that Cora poofed out of sight

Emma looked around the small room she was in. Cora had tired her up and placed her in a cage in a cellar outside of a small farmhouse just outside of town. She didn't even know that the limits of Storybrook when out this far and she feared her parents would never find her here.

Magic! She could use magic! Emma closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could on the ropes that bound her hands and feet but nothing happened. She tried a few more times with the same result and decided that Cora must know she has magic and did something to keep Emma from using it.

Emma began to sob quietly to herself. Being locked up reminded her of one of her foster homes. She was one of four children at that house and when her foster dad would get drunk he would lock them in a closet and threaten to tie them up if they weren't quiet while they were locked in there. He would lock them in there for hours at a time until he sobered up and then he would apologize profusely. Emma never told anyone about that experience and now she was afraid she would never have the chance to.

OUAT

Charming drove all over town looking for any sign of his daughter. He had already stopped at Grannie's to make sure Emma wasn't there hiding away in Killian's room. He had also stopped by Mr. Gold's shop to see if Emma had been there with Neal but still, he ran into a dead end.

Finally he decided to call Snow to see if Emma had gone home.

"Hey Snow, has she come home?"

 _"No. Charming I'm starting to get worried that she didn't actually run off"_

"Me too, I'm going to get a search party together. Don't worry Snow, I will find her"

 _"I know you will, please keep me updated"_

"I will, I love you" and with that he hung up and got back in his car to radio Gram and the dwarfs to help him look for Emma.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43 –

 **Will he find Emma? Where is Regina and Cora? What does Cora want with our Emma?**

Emma couldn't tell what time it was or how long she had been in the cellar. There was no window and no light came through the door. Emma was starting to panic as time went on as she let the thoughts run through her head of what Cora wanted from her. She remembered when Regina had confronted her in the hallway at the school and that she wanted to take Emma in order to get back at her parents. Maybe that's what Cora wanted, she wanted to take Emma in order to help Regina get back at her parents.

Would they try and send her over the town line and put her back into foster care? But they wouldn't be able to do that because her parents had officially adopted her and they had put the protection spell up that kept her from going over the town line. But maybe Cora had a way to reverse it and make it so Emma couldn't come back.

Just as her thoughts were beginning to run away with themselves the door to the cellar opened and Cora came down followed by Regina.

"I told you I had something for you" Cora said looking over to Emma

"Mother, you are devious" Regina said walking over to the cage.

"I told you, I want to help you" Cora said placing her hand on Regina's shoulder.

OUAT

Snow was beginning to panic. They still didn't know where Emma was. She wished that Emma had had her phone in her pocket so that she could track it and find her but unfortunately it was left on the desk when Emma left the room. They didn't even know who Emma left or with.

Snow decided to call David.

 _"Hey Snow, nothing yet but we think we have a lead"_

"What is it?" Snow asked in a panic.

 _"Well we saw a strange car headed toward the outskirts of town to that little farm house on the edge of town so Leroy and I are headed out there"_

"I'm coming with you"

 _"Snow you can't come, I will get Emma back but I can't risk you and the baby"_

"Charming I'll be fine, I need to help get our daughter back!"

 _"You are helping. You're making it so I can focus on getting our girl back and knowing that my other girl is safe. Please do this for me! I promise I will call you as soon as we have her okay?"_

"Fine, but I don't like this! I want to be along side you and I want to be there to take care of her when you find her."

 _"I know, and I promise you're going to have plenty of time to take care of her when we find her"_

"I know. Bring our girl home."

 _"I will, love you"_

"I love you too" Snow hung up the phone feeling distraught. She knew her husband was right but she also didn't like that she had to be sidelined in the search for her daughter.

OUAT

Cora unlocked the cage with a wave of her hand and Regina walked in taking the gag out of Emma's mouth.

"What do you want?" Emma hissed at her

"What do I want? I want to ruin your parent's happiness" Regina hissed back. "You're parents greatest happiness was finding you, taking you away will ruin their happiness which makes it so I finally have my happy ending."

"What you don't know is that your mother is responsible for all of Regina's unhappiness and therefore must pay for that" Cora said leaning against the door of the cage.

"How can you say that? You're the one who sent them to this world and caused them to forget who they were for fifteen years. They didn't choose to do that." Emma bit back

"They never would have remembered who they were if you hadn't come to this town and ruined everything" Regina yelled in Emma's face. "Now it's time for you to pay for what you've done and your parents will suffer for what they've done. Come mother, time to watch the spectacle"

And with that the two women were off leaving Emma once again alone in the dark.

OUAT

David and Leroy pulled up into the woods that bordered the small farm house. They did not want to chance Regina or Cora seeing them. They then quietly exited the car and made it to the edge of the woods were they could see the small house and the entrance to the underground cellar.

"There's Regina's car" David said pointing to the small road that led to the small house.

"So let's go get her"

"Not so fast Leroy, we need to make sure we know where they are holding her before we rush in there"

Just then Cora and Regina came out from the Cellar and headed toward the car and took off toward town leaving a perfect window for Charming and Leroy to go in and get Emma.

They waited about five minutes to make sure the pair were not coming right back and made a b line for the cellar. Unfortunately as soon as they went to open the latch they were thrown back and hit the ground.

"Ouch…they must have put a protection spell on the door" Charming said sitting up and looking around.

"No kidding. So how are we going to save Emma now?"

"Time to make a deal with Gold"

OUAT

 _"Hey Snow, we've hit a road block"_

"What do you mean? Is Emma okay?"

 _"We don't know yet, we found where they're hiding her but they put a protection spell over it so we can't get to her"_

"Charming what are we going to do? We can't just leave her to the whim of whatever Cora and Regina have planned"

 _"I know Snow, I'm going to go talk to Gold and see if he will make a deal with me, whatever he wants in return is going to be worth it to get to Emma"_

"Let me do it" Snow blurted out

 _"Snow I can't let you do that"_

"Charming, you need to stay at the farm house with Leroy to make sure they don't move Emma and you said that Regina and Cora were coming back to town, they will notice you and Leroy coming and going, they won't notice me going to Gold and then leaving, they will just think that I am trying to find Emma which I am"

 _"Snow…"_

"Charming I can't sit in this house anymore waiting to find out wither or not my daughter is alive, I'm doing this"

 _"Okay, but promise me you'll be careful!"_

"I will, I will call you as soon as I get the help we need from Gold"

 _"Okay, I love you"_

"I love you too"


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44 –

 **Will Mr Gold help them release Emma or will he let things happen as they will?**

Snow made her way to Gold's shop hoping that he would have something that would help them to break the protection spell and be able to bring Emma home safe.

"Well hello Snow, what can I do you for?" Gold greeted her as she rushed into his shop.

"We need you to break a protection spell" Snow said very bluntly

"Well you do know how to cut to the chase but I never said that I would help you"

"Please Gold, Cora kidnapped Emma and has her locked in a cellar outside of town but the protection spell is keeping Charming and Leroy from beign able to go in and save Emma"

"What's in it for me?"

"What do you want?"

"Your daughter will owe me a favor down the road"

"No deal, I'm not going to let her owe you anything. If you want a favor, you can have it from me or David but that's it"

"Alright then, I guess you don't really need that potion then" Mr. Gold began to walk toward the back of his shop

"Fine! Emma can owe you a favor, just help us bring her home"

"Now we're talking. I'll be right back with what you need"

OUAT

"Now Regina, we need to think about what to do with Emma before we simply dispose of her" Cora said to her daughter as they sped toward the center of town.

"What do you mean mother?"

"I mean, that child has power and we can use that to our advantage"

"Go on"

"I don't think that girl knows the power she has and we can train her to wield dark magic and cause her to use it against her family."

"I like your thinking mother. Use their own happiness to ruin them"

"Exactly. You always were a smart girl Regina."

"Thank you mother"

OUAT

"Charming? I have it, I'm coming to you"

 _"That was fast, what did Gold make you do?"_

"Never mind that, what matters is we have what we need to get our daughter back."

 _"Snow, what did he make you do?"_

"Charming that is not the point"

 _"Snow I need you to tell me what he made you do. Some things are just not worth it"_

"Charming I'm not having this conversation right now. I'll be to you as soon as I can I love you"

 _"Snow…"_ But Charming was cut off by Snow hanging up the phone. He knew she had done something he wouldn't like but there was no going back now.

OUAT

"Was that who I think it is?" Regina said glancing at the car that sped past them at lightening speed

"Who dear?"

"Snow White" Regina seethed

"What would she be doing…" Cora stopped mid thought as Regina quickly spun the car around.

"They must have found out where we hid her" Regina yelled speeding to try and catch up with her nemesis

"How? We weren't followed" Cora said confused

"Not that we know of but someone must have" Regina answered angrily.

"Don't worry honey, I put a protection spell over the cellar, they won't be able to get to her"

Regina stayed silent as she finally saw the tail lights of the station wagon that was getting closer and closet to the abandoned farm house.

OUAT

Snow looked into the rear view mirror to see Regina's car begin to gain on her and she put her foot into the floor trying to put as much space between herself and them so that they could make sure to get to Emma first.

She finally saw her husband and Leroy standing in the middle of the field as she approached and she sped to them having to hit her breaks as hard as she could to avoid hitting the pair.

"I have it! GO! Regina's coming!" Snow said jumping out the car as soon as she put it into park.

"What?" Charming said shocked to hear the words coming out of his wife's mouth.

"JUST GO!" Snow yelled throwing the bottle to Charming.

Charming caught it and popped the cork off with his mouth before pouring a small amount on the Cellar before he heard yelling coming from where Snow had been.

He looked over to see Cora throwing Snow to the ground before charging toward Charming. He had a choice to make, go and comfort his wife or save his daughter. He knew Snow would not want him to go to her but to go and save Emma.

"Leroy go to Snow, I've got Emma" Charming yelled throwing open the cellar doors and running down the stairs.

He threw the rest of the potion at the cage and watched the rest of the protection spell melt away. He then pulled out his gun and shot off the lock and raced in to release his daughter.

"Emma! I'm here, I'm here." David said untying his daughter

"DAD WATCH OUT!" Emma yelled seeing Cora and Regina come down the stairs.

Charming stood up and put himself between his daughter and the two women to protect her.

"Back off Regina!" Charming yelled

"What are you going to do Charming?"

"Whatever it takes to protect my daughter"

"I'm sure you are" Cora said in a calm voice that sent chills up Emma's spine.

"Give it up Regina. We aren't going to let you take our daughter from us"

"I'm not going to stop until I get my happy ending which means taking away yours." Regina hissed at David.

"You've taken this too far Regina, come after me all you want but leave my wife and kids out of it"

"You may have foiled us this time, but I promise you, you will suffer fro what you have done to my daughter" And with that Cora poofed the pair out of the Cellar and they drove away.

Charming turned back to his daughter

"Emma, I'm so glad you're okay. Did they hurt you?"

"No, but my body aches from being tied to this stupid chair"

"We're going to go get you and your mom checked out"

"What happened to mom?" Emma asked in a panic

Before Charming could answer Snow and Leroy came charging down the stairs

"Emma!" Snow yelled down before she could see her

"Mom?"

"Emma! Thank God you're safe!"

"Are you okay? Dad said we're both going to go get checked out, what happened to you?"

"I got tossed by Cora but I'm okay"

"We'll let Doctor Wale be the judge of that. Leroy can you call for an ambulance? I want them both checked out as soon as possible"

"Dad, I'm fine, I just need to put some stuff on these rope burns"

"Emma, you and your mother are going to get checked out and that's that do you BOTH understand me?" Charming said looking from his daughter to his wife.

"If mom will, I will" Emma said with a slight grin

"Fine, we will both get checked out" Snow agreed shaking her head at her daughter's antics.

"Good. Now Emma, how this happen?" David said turning his attention back to his daughter

"Cora came to mom's class room and asked me to help her find Regina and when I told her no she transported us to the center of town and then they brought me out here and tied me up and gagged me"

"Emma I'm so sorry! I never should have left you alone in the classroom"

"It's okay mom, it's not your fault" Emma said going to take a step toward her mom but wincing at the pain she felt in her ankle

"Emma! I've got you" Charming said catching her up into his arms. "Let's get you both out of here so you are ready for the paramedics."

With that the trio were headed out of the cellar.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45 –

 **What do you think that Gold wants from Emma? Sorry this has taken some time to update. I started a new job and I haven't had a lot of free time so please bare with me, I promise to try and update as often as I possibly can!**

Just as they exited out of the cellar they could hear the sound of the sirens getting closer. Charming held Emma in his arms knowing that if he put her down she would try and walk on her ankle and he didn't want her to injure it any more than it already was.

It was seconds later that the ambulances pulled up. Paramedics rushed over to Charming and took Emma out of his arms giving Charming a chance to point out Snow as the other individual needing to be checked out.

"I'm really okay" Snow said to the paramedics as they guided her toward the ambulance

"She's pregnant and she got thrown about 25 feet and landed on her back" Charming corrected.

"We'll take care of her Mr. Noland" The Paramedic assured him

With that Charming went to go check on Emma. They had her wrapped in a blanket to try and bring up her body temperature. It was anything but warm down in the cellar and she had been down there for quite a while. They had begun to put ointment on her wrists and wrap them up to treat the rope burn and were moving toward her ankle.

"She tried to walk on it and she winced in pain but she was fine standing" Charming said as soon as he got close

"Dad I told them I think I hurt my ankle, I'm okay" Emma said see her dad's panic trying to take care of her and her mother at the same time.

"Why don't you go and make sure that mom doesn't talk the other paramedics out of treating her" Emma joked.

"Oh I already did! Now I need to make sure you don't do the same!" Charming jabbed back

"ME? I'm offended!" Emma said trying to act offended but unable to conceal a smile. "Dad, I'm going to be okay, really"

"I know, because I'm going to make sure of it" Charming said moving out of the way to let the paramedics begin to treat her ankle.

David cringed when they finally took off her shoe and sock to show a swollen and bruised ankle.

"Emma did you trip or did they break it when they tied you up?" David began to inquire at how she could have hurt her ankle that badly.

"Mr. Noland, I promise we will get to the bottom of this but we need you to move out of the way while we treat your daughter" The paramedic finally said after having to keep move around him.

"I'm so sorry" David said stepping back while Emma giggled a bit at the fact the paramedic scolded her dad.

"I'm going to go check on your mother Emma but I'll be right back okay?"

"Okay Dad" Emma said shaking her head

David felt out of his element. He didn't know what to do with himself because he seemed to only be getting in the way and that was the last thing he wanted. As he got closet to where Snow was the Paramedics were lifting her up into the ambulance.

"Is she okay?" Charming said running over

"Yes Mr. Noland your wife seems to be doing alright and the baby does to but we want to make sure so we are going to take her to the hospital and run some tests to be absolutely sure. You are more than welcome to follow us or you can wait and ride with your daughter it's up to you." The Paramedic explained.

"Thank you, can I talk to my wife quick before you take her?" Charming said, he wanted to know how she was really feeling and find out if she wanted him to go with her or stay with Emma, even though he already knew the answer.

"Yes, but we have to make it quick"

"Thank you" and with that Charming open the door and hopped into the ambulance

"Charming? Where's Emma?" Snow said in a panic

"She's fine, they are treating her now, how are you?"

"I'm fine, I don't know why they are making me go to the hospital, I want to be with Emma"

"You will be soon. Now they said I can come with you…"

Snow jumped in and interrupted her husband "No you need to stay with Emma, I'll be just fine. Make sure they take good care of her and that she doesn't try to talk them out of her getting taken to be checked out"

"That's funny, she said the same thing about you" Charming started to laugh

"Mr. Noland" The paramedic popped his head in "We need to get going"

"Go Charming, I'll be fine" Snow said

"Alright, I love you" and with that Charming jumped out and the paramedics were off to take Snow to the hospital

Charming then headed back to where Emma was

"How's mom?"

"She's good but they are going to take her to the hospital and run some tests as a precaution"

"and the baby?"

"They say the baby is fine, but like I said, they are going to do some tests just to make sure they are both just fine." Charming reassured her. "Now how are you feeling?"

"Fine, I'm ready to go home. I talked to the Paramedic and they said I'm good to go!"

"I don't think so young lady" Charming said eyeing the Paramedic who just winked at the prince.

"I'm not lying! Isn't that right Steve?" Emma said looking to the Paramedic she had apparently made friends with to try and back up her story.

"Ms. Noland I think it's best we go and get you checked out to make sure that you didn't break your ankle"

"Steve you don't have to say that for my dad's sake, he can handle the truth" Emma said starting to squirm

"Ms. Noland as entertaining as your tactics may be I have to do what's best for you"

Emma just looked down and shook her head

"Nice try Princess" David said trying not to laugh at his daughters attempt to change the Paramedics mind.

"Dad!" Emma said annoyed that her dad had used her nickname outside of the house

"Dad what? I can call you Princess" David said getting it in one last time for the sure enjoyment of watching Emma's face turn red.

"Dad! Stop it!" Emma protested more

"Alright, alright" Charming relented laughing a bit

"Alright Mr. Noland it's time to get going, you can climb in the back with me or you can follow in your car.

David looked to his car and saw Leroy leaning up against the hood. "Hey Leroy, take my keys and meet me at the Hospital?" he said throwing his keys to the dwarf

"Of course!"

"I'll be riding with Emma" And with that Charming hopped into the back of the Ambulance with his daughter.

OUAT

Once Emma and Charming arrived at the hospital they took Emma to the x-ray room to check on that ankle. While they did that, Charming went on a search to find Snow. The nurse at the nurses station guided straight to her room where Snow was fighting to keep her eyes open.

"Hey their beautiful" Charming said walking into her room

"Hey how's Emma?" Snow said doing her best to sit up in her bed

"She's fine, they're doing some x-rays to see if the bone in her ankle is broken. How are you?"

"I'm fine, they did an ultrasound and our little man is doing great!" Snow said watching Charming's face as what she said began to register

"Our little man?" Charming said in shock

"It's a boy!"

"Snow! I'm so happy!" Charming said wrapping his arms around her

"I know this wasn't exactly how we wanted to find out but…"

"It's okay! I'm so happy! We will have one of each! So the baby's okay and you're okay?"

"Yes Charming we're both fine" Snow said rubbing her baby bump

"I'm so glad. So are they going to keep you for a little bit or are you free to go?"

"They want me to stay overnight because of the nature of what happened they just want to be cautions"

"I'm glad! I don't know what I would do if I lost you"

"Mr. Noland?" A nurse said poking her head into the room

"Yes?"

"If it's okay with you and your wife, we are going to bring your daughter in here so you can all be together"

"Bring her in!" Snow responded in haste

"She'll be her in a moment" the nurse said as she dismissed herself

"At least now I don't have to jump from room to room" Charming said with a laugh

"I'm just glad I can keep an eye on her" Snow said more worried about how Emma was doing than herself as usual

The orderly opened the door just then and began rolling Emma in

"Mr and Mrs Noland I have your daughter here. We gave her some pain killers so she is a bit droggy. Unfortunately she did break her ankle so the doctors will be in here in a little bit to explain what they have to do next"

"Thank you so much" Charming said

Once he was finished locking down the bed and making sure that everything was hooked up properly he left them to have a moment with Emma.

"Hey Em" David said sitting on the edge of her bed and stroking her face

"Dad?" Emma said barely able to keep her eyes open. "I'm so tired"

"I know, it's just the pain killer, you're going to be okay. You did break your ankle however. Do you remember how it may have happened?"

"Um…" But her head was just too cloudy to try and think

"It's okay Em, we'll talk about it when you feel better okay?"

"Where's mom?"

"I'm right here sweetie" Snow chimed in trying to sit up so she could see Emma

"Mom?" Emma said trying to do the same

"Hold on, lay back down, she's right over there" David said keeping Emma from moving

"Is she okay?"

"I'm fine Emma, I'm right here" Snow began to get out of bed before Charming gave her a look

"You need to stay laying down too, there is a reason they are keeping you over night" He scolded his wife.

"Hey, I'm her mother, I need to be with her"

"You are with her. You can get up as soon as the doctor says it's okay"

"Which I haven't yet" Said Doctor Wale coming in the door

"Hello Doctor Wale" Charming said getting up to shake his hand

"Hello David, I'm sure the orderly told you that Emma did in fact break her ankle. In order to make sure it heals we need to set it and put a hard cast on it that we will leave on for four weeks. After that she is going to need some physical therapy to rebuild the muscle in that leg. It's going to take around three months for her to get back to where she was but she's young so she may bounce back a bit sooner than that"

"Thank you Doctor Wale." Snow said glad to hear that ultimately her daughter was going to be okay

"as for you Mary Margret, you and your baby are doing fine as well but I want to keep you here over night just to make sure. I don't mind if you get up and walk around a bit but please take it easy" He said more to David than to Snow.

"I'll take care of them Doc" David smiled at his wife knowing she was hating every minute of this.

"Right now I'm going to go get a nurse and we will set Emma's leg and put the cast on. In order to give us more space I'm going to have you and your wife step out, we'll be about twenty minutes or so and then you'll be free to come back in."

"Dad?" Emma said waking up

"Hey Em, Doctor Wale is here and they are going to put your ankle back how it should be and then put a cast on it."

"Any preference on color?" Doctor Wale Chimed in

"Red" Emma sad before falling back to sleep.

"We'll give her a bit more medicine to make sure she stays asleep through this whole process. She won't remember a thing, I promise" Doctor Wale assured the Nolans as he saw the pain wash across their faces at their little girl being in pain.

"Thank you Doctor Wale," Snow said coming over. Neither of the men had even seen her get out of the bed.

"We'll leave you to it" Charming said putting his arm around Snow and leading her out of the room.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46 –

 **SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE! I got a new job and life got crazy! I know this chapter is short but I'm going to do my best to make up for it!**

 **Our little family is all safe, but Charming hasn't forgotten about the fact that Snow hasn't told him what Gold wanted in exchange for the potion to save Emma. How is Charming going to react at the fact that Snow agreed to a favor from Emma instead of him?**

As the couple exited the room David decided that now was as good a time as any to talk to her about what exactly she had promised Gold in order to get the potion.

"Snow…" But before David could even ask the question Snow interrupted him and started talking.

"I just need you to know before I tell you this, if I hadn't agreed to his terms Regina and Cora would still have Emma"

"Snow what did you do?" Charming said more worried than anything

"Charming I hate myself for doing it but in the moment I…"

"Snow…just tell me and we can figure this out, I have always take care of you and Emma and I always will"

"I promised that Emma would owe Gold a favor" Snow blurted out before sitting down in the nearest seat.

David was in shock and he sat down next to his wife in the other seat

"Charming I know what you're thinking but he refused to help unless I agreed to it" Snow said still not making eye contact with him. "I wish I hadn't done it but I was desperate"

"Snow we have been trying to protect Emma and now you just completely undid that without asking me! I never should have let you go!" David exclaimed

"David how can you say that?"

"Because Snow, you basically handed Emma over to Gold on a silver Platter!"

"David!"

"What Snow? What do you want me to say?"

"How about you understand why I did it and that we will work together to make sure whatever favor Gold asks is run through us first? How about we keep doing what we have always doing and protect Emma?"

"We could have figured out another way to save Emma without making her vulnerable!"

"David I did the best I could for what I was given!"

"I know!" David yelled but then saw the painful look that ran across Snow's face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. I do understand why you did it and we will protect her. I just wasn't expecting you to say that he wanted a favor from Emma."

"Neither did I. I was taken off guard by it too. He refused to help unless he could ask a favor of Emma. I knew we only had a small window of time to save her and I couldn't watch Gold walk away when he was our only hope of getting Emma back"

"I know Snow. I wasn't there so I can't know what I would or wouldn't have done. I'm sorry I put you in a position to have to make that decision. I'll go talk to Gold tomorrow and see if I can get him to let me give him a favor in place of Emma. It's going to be okay Snow. Please forgive me"

"I forgive you Charming, I love you. Thank you for understanding" Snow said wrapping her arms around her husband.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes until they heard their names called over the intercom to return to Emma's room. They walked in to find Emma asleep with a large bulky green cast on.

"Mr and Mrs Nolan, Emma did great. Her ankle was easy to set and the she cooperated perfectly. I'd like you to come back in one week so we can make sure that the ankle is healing properly." Doctor Wale explained

"Thank you Wale" Snow said shaking the doctors hand.

"I'd like Snow to get back in bed and we will release both of them in the morning" Doctor Wale explained to David.

"Will do doc." David said and then led Snow back toward her bed.

And with that Doctor Wale went to attend to his next patient.

Once Charming got Snow into bed he walked the small distance between the two beds to check on Emma. She looked so peaceful in the hospital bed. All that he could think about was how he felt hopeless to keep her safe. He was going to go talk to Gold but he knew it wasn't going to be easy; in fact it was going to be nearly impossible but he was going to do whatever it took to keep his little girl safe. Charming was broken out of his train of though by the soft voice of his wife calling his name.

"Charming" Snow said softly as not to wake Emma.

"Yea, Snow?" Charming said turning toward his wife.

"I'm sorry. I never should have agreed to Gold's terms. We would have found another way."

"No, Snow. You did what you could under the circumstances. Now get some rest and we'll deal with this in the morning" Charming responded swiping a hair to the side and caressing her face.

"Okay" Snow said lightly placing her hand on Charming's before closing her eyes.

Charming stepped back from Snow's bed and sat in the chair that was placed between the two beds. He sat in silence looking at his girls and felt more determined than ever to make sure that nothing happened to them.


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47 –

 **Time for our little charming family to go home and enjoy some peace and quiet after a crazy few days.**

Charming barely got any sleep between the different doctors and nurses that were coming in and out throughout the night to check on Snow and Emma. At one point Emma woke up whimpering which turned into sobs from the pain which prompted the doctor to give her an extra dose of pain meds. Charming's heart broke watching her little face scrunch up in pain and there was nothing he could do to help.

Snow thankfully slept like a baby. He had always been jealous of his wife's ability to sleep nearly anywhere, a skill he did not poses. Not only that, but he couldn't get the idea of Gold asking something of Emma out of his head and he didn't want to fall asleep for fear that he would show up at any moment.

However he was able to put his fears aside for a brief amount of time and get in an hour or two of sleep. He knew he was going to have to take care of his girls and that he would need sleep to do so.

Morning finally came and Emma finally woke up to the point of being coherent after the drugs they gave her to sedate her while they set her ankle.

"Good Morning Princess" Charming said standing and walking toward her bed.

"I'm too tired to be mad at you" Emma responded still groggy and having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

"How are you feeling?" He said moving her hair from her face

"Like Crap" Emma responded dryly. "I'm in a lot of pain and I feel like I'm carrying a small elephant on my leg"

"Well if elephants were green you wouldn't be far off" Charming laughed at his daughters description of her cast "But I'm sorry you're in pain, I'll go get a doctor to get you some more medication" But before he could walk away Emma reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Don't leave me Daddy"

"Emma I'm never going to leave you, I just need to poke my head out into the hall and I'll be right back by your side okay?"

"You promise?"

"I Promise"

Charming was soaking up this clingy version on his daughter because most of the time she didn't want him around her, at least not close enough to touch and he knew that this was only because of the drugs but he didn't care. He was grateful that the nurses station was right outside their door so he was able to quickly stick his head out and get the attention of one of the nurses to come in and give Emma some more pain killer and get right back to his princess.

"I'm back princess" Charming said taking Emma's hand between his. He felt so much joy as he felt her hand squeeze his.

Emma rolled her head to the side so she could see David and effortlessly said "I love you daddy"

"I love you too Emma" Charming's heart was melting.

Just than the nurse came in. "Good Morning Ms. Emma! Let's get you some pain killer so you can relax before you go home today"

At that Snow began to stir in the other bed. Charming turned to her as the nurse dispensed Emma's medication.

"Good morning beautiful" He said leaning down and giving her a kiss

"Good morning Charming"

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine, is Emma awake? How is she feeling?"

"They are giving her some pain killer now, she said she was in a little bit of pain but she is pretty out of it"

Snow than tried to get out of bed but was stopped by Charming before she even got fully sat up in the bed. "Let's take it easy there, I've got this okay?"

"Mom" Emma said from the other bed

"Emma" Snow said forcing herself up against Charming's hold on her shoulders.

"Mom, does my leg hurt?" Emma said flopping her head over to be able to see her mom

The couple looked at each other and tried to stifle their laughter. "I guess not honey" Snow replied.

"Those pain meds must be working really well uh Em?" Charming said shamelessly trying to get his daughter to say something funny again.

"Oh yea!" Emma replied enthusiastically

The couple couldn't hold it in anymore and began laughing out loud.

"Well it seems the Nolan's are in a good mood this morning" Doctor Wale said walking in on the scene.

"Good morning Doc" Charming said pulling himself together

"Good morning. Well I know you are probably wanting to get out of here so I have looked over everything and you guys look good to be discharged. We do have some pain meds for Emma to help manage her pain as well as crutches so she can get around"

"Thank you Doctor Wale" Snow said getting out of the bed and looking toward her clothes to begin changing

"You're welcome. I'll give you a few moments to get ready and then I'll send a nurse in with the final paper work along with two wheel chairs"

"Oh Doctor Wale two won't be necessary, I'll be fine" Snow said turning around to protest

"I understand Mrs. Nolan but it's hospital policy" and with that he was on to his next patient.

"I am perfectly capable of walking myself out of this hospital. Besides it's just a waste of time wheeling Emma and I both down to the car, I wasn't even the one who was hurt" Snow said flustered as she flew about the room gathering her things and ending her rant by pulling close the dividing curtain so she could get dressed in private.

"Snow it's not that big of a deal. Besides you heard him, it's hospital policy. You get yourself ready and I'm going to get Emma ready to go.

Charming knew that Emma would hate that her father had to help her get dressed but thankfully she was too out of it to care. He picked up her pile of clothes and realized that she had been hearing skinny jeans which were not going to work with her cast.

"Snow do you think the hospital has some scrubs we could barrow? Emma was wearing Skinny Jeans when we brought her in"

"Peak your head out to the nurses station and ask, I would think they would have an option for situations like this" Snow replied "Or I could go home and get her clothes and come pick you two up"

Charming heard the sly tone in his wife's voice "Snow, you know that's not happening"

"It was worth a shot"

Charming just shook his head and headed toward the nurses station. Thankfully they did have some paper pants that they had for just these types of occasions. Charming thanked the nurse and headed back to the room with the blue pants. He made quick work of getting Emma into her normal clothes as quick as possible while trying to not move her around too much.

In no time the little family was in the car and on their way home (Even if Snow protested the wheel chair all the way to the car).

OUAT

When they arrived at the loft David knew that it was a waste of time to try and get Snow to wait for him to help her upstairs so he instead focused his attention on Emma who was finally starting to come to. They had already stopped at the pharmacy and picked up the pain medication so that they wouldn't have to go out again. David didn't voice it but he was not comfortable with leaving his girls alone.

Once they got inside Snow had already prepped the couch for Emma. They didn't want to put her up in her room because they knew she would try to come down the stairs and they didn't want another trip to the ER.

"Snow I can finish getting her set up, you should go lay down" Charming said going up to his wife and placing his hands on hers.

"Charming I am fine, I don't need to lay down. I want to take care of Emma okay?"

"Okay but please don't over do it okay? It's my job to take care of all three of you" He said smiling and looking down at her stomach where she was now starting to show.

"I will" She said before standing on her tip toes to kiss her husband after which she turned her attention back to Emma.

Charming loved watching Snow take care of their girl. He knew she had always wanted to be there for Emma from day one and he understood her desire to do everything she could now that Emma was finally reunited with them.

"Charming?" Snow said breaking Charming out of his thoughts

"Yea?"

"You okay?"

"Yea I'm fine, I just love watching you be a mom" He said walking up and putting his arms around her.

"Well I like watching you be a dad"

"Why don't we go to bed and enjoy being married?"

"I would like that very much!" Snow said before taking his hand and leading her husband toward their bedroom.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48 –

 **Time to have a day at home just the three of them! How is Emma going to handle having a large cast on her ankle where she can't walk?**

Emma woke up and looked around and realized her parents and put her on the couch, which she was grateful for because she really didn't want to try and brave the stairs. She then felt her stomach grumble and realized she hadn't eaten much in the last day with everything going on. She saw her crutches were propped up against the door across the room.

She looked around to see if her parents were around and when she didn't see them she got very quiet and waited to see if she could hear them talking in their room. When all she heard was silence she decided that she would attempt to get across the room and get her crutches.

She slowly pulled the covers off of her legs. This was the first time, that she remembered, seeing her cast. She liked the color, it was very bright and fun. She hoped she felt that way after a week of the bright Neon color. However she underestimated the weight of the cast and when she went to move her leg, her heel hit the floor with a loud thud causing Emma to yelp a little at the pain that shot up her leg.

She immediately stopped and threw her hand over her mouth. She sat there on the couch in silence for a moment but didn't hear anything so she figured she was safe. She then got down on her hands and knees to crawl and get her crutches. She was about three feet from the door when she looked up and saw a pair of legs standing in front of her.

Before she knew it a pair of hands was under her arms helping her get to a standing position. David than scooped Emma up in his arms and headed back toward the couch.

"Dad, can you at least grab the crutches so I can go to the bathroom?" Emma complained as the couch got closer and the crutches got father away.

"Emma if you need to go to the bathroom your mom and I can help you but the drugs make you a bit unsteady and we don't need you to fall and hurt yourself more" David explained before setting her down on the couch.

"How did you even…"

"You think that thud and your little scream would go unnoticed?" Charming interrupted giving Emma his dad look.

"Oh…yea…that…" Emma said getting uncomfortable with getting caught

"Yea, that!" Charming said chuckling "I watched you panic which was very cute by the way and then I watched you start crawling across the floor"

"Dad" Emma said rolling her eyes "And that's not nice, you could have just said something to let me know you saw me"

"Now what fun would that have been?" Charming said with a smirk before taking a seat on the couch "How are you feeling?"

"Like Crap. This thing is freaking heavy and that little hit to the heel didn't exactly feel good" Emma said sarcastically

"That good uh?" Charming couldn't keep his smile contained at his daughters anger about having to depend on him and Snow but he loved every minute of being able to take care of her

"Dad you're not funny"

"Really? Your mom think's I'm pretty hysterical"

Emma reached up and punched charming in the arm

"Haha! Alright, alright. Let me get you something to eat and then I can get you some pain killer okay princess?" Charming said standing up and heading toward the kitchen

"You just had to get it in there one more time didn't you?"

"Always" He yelled over his shoulder

Just then Snow came walking out of the bedroom

"Good morning you two! Emma you sure do know how to make some noise don't you?" Snow said with a smirk on her face

"You too?" Emma wined

"How are you feeling honey?" Snow said ignoring her daughters complaining

"Crappy. My leg hurts and I can't move off this couch" Emma said grumpy

"I'm getting her something to eat if you want to grab the pain killer and a glass of water" David chimed in.

"Mom? Can you bring me my crutches so I can go to the bathroom?" Emma said from the couch.

Charming gave Snow a look letting her know that he had already told Emma about their fears for her on crutches.

"Emma your dad can carry you into the bathroom if you would like but you were already told you about why we want to wait on the crutches" Snow responded bracing herself for what she knew was the inevitable fight from her daughter

"Mom…first…how in the world did you know? And two…Can you at least give me a chance?" Emma said really hoping that her logic would help her argument.

Charming and Snow had a silent conversation and agreed that if Snow was with her to catch her that maybe it would be such a bad thing to let her try being that she was going to be using them for the next few weeks.

"Alright Emma, but I'm going to help you. By the way, thank you for not getting mad and having a conversation" Snow said walking over to the door to get the crutches

"THANK YOU!" Emma said in excitement. She would never get over the embarrassment of having her dad have to carry her into the bathroom.

OUAT

By the time Snow helped Emma go to the bathroom and get back to the couch Charming had the scrambled eggs and bacon ready for them both. The couple sat on the floor and used the coffee table to put their plates on so that they could be close to Emma.

"So what are we going to do today?" Charming said as the trio had finished eating. He collected the plates and handed Emma her pain killers

"Well…" Emma chimed in sheepishly

"What is it Em?" Snow said looking at her daughter

"I was wondering…I know that I have to rest but…" Emma bit her lip as she did her best to read her parents faces "Could Neal and August come over?"

Snow and Charming looked at each other with tired eyes both not wanting anyone to come over due to the fact that they would have to stay awake while the boys were there

"And if you're worried about staying up I can also invite the new girl so then there is an even balance of guys and girls!" Emma threw in her last bargaining chip hoping to seal the deal

"Who is the new girl?" David asked a bit worried that this was the first they were hearing of her

"Her name is Lily, we actually grew up together in foster care and she just came to Storybrook this week" Emma said a bit surprised at how concerned her dad seemed to be

"Charming can I talk to you in the other room?" Snow said quickly standing

"Mom?" Emma asked confused

"We'll be right back Emma" Snow replied bluntly

Once they got to the room they pulled the curtain to try and block Emma from hearing them

"Charming if this girl is from the outside how did she get here?"

"I was thinking the same thing. Unless she's someone we know"

"David We need to do something about this"

"We will. I think it's best we tell Emma no for today while we figure out who this Lily girl is. It also gives us time to rest because frankly I'm exhausted." David said

"I agree. Now let's go break the news to her" Snow said taking a deep breath before opening the curtain

"Alright Emma, here's the deal" David started off

"We know you want to have your friends over which is understandable but with all that happened last night we are really tired and you need a day to rest before you have a bunch of people over here. Today needs to be a down day. Do you understand?" Snow said hoping that Emma would take it well and not catch on to their concerns over her new friend

"It's Lily isn't it?" Emma said disappointed

"What do you mean Em?" David said kneeling by the head of the couch

"You don't want Lily to come over because you're afraid she might be bad news" Emma said a bit more sad then before

"Em, our job is to keep you safe. We love that you have a new friend, or old friend as it were but we just need to make sure that we are doing what is best for you and for the town." David said lightly stroking Emma's hair.

"Emma we don't think your friend is bad news. We would love to meet her some day! But last night really wore us out and we need to rest so that way we can all be at our best okay?" Snow chimed in as she sat down at the foot of the couch and gently put her hand on Emma's leg.

Emma sat staring at her hands to avoid eye contact with her parents. She knew that they were worried now and she hated herself for it. She never would have brought Lily up if she had actually thought about it but the drugs had her off her game.

Emma finally broke her silence with a simple "I understand"

Snow and Charming looked at each other knowing how disappointed Emma was but knowing that they had made the best decision.

"Thanks for understanding Emma. Now why don't you take a nap and then later we can play a game okay?" Snow said trying desperately to turn the situation around.

"I'm not really tired, can I watch some TV?" Emma asked still not making eye contact.

"I don't see why not" Charming said in the happiest voice he could before handing Emma the remote.

Emma simply took the remote and fidgeted with the buttons until her parents finally took the hint and walked away. As soon as they did Emma looked up enough to see the TV and began channel surfing to find something somewhat entertaining to watch.

OUAT

"Charming we have to find out who this Lily girl is before this town turns into some sort of freak show" Snow said a bit panicked as they both got into their bed to take a much needed nap.

"I know Snow, we will. I'm messaging Leroy and Gram right now to let them know what's going on." David said picking up his phone and beginning to type out the message.

"David we don't even know how long this girl has been in town! I mean granted this is the first time that Emma has mentioned her and she did call her the new girl but that could mean she has been here for a few days or a few weeks or even a few months, in that time who knows who else or what else could have come into Storybrook without us knowing."

"Snow you do remember when Emma's foster dad was able to come into town. We knew this could happen but we have done a good job of monitoring the town line since then. Emma is going to be fine. Now I'm going to go meet with Gram and Leroy so we can go talk to the dwarfs and find out who they have allowed to cross over the town line" David said grabbing his coat and kissing the top of snow's head

"Please be careful" Snow pleaded as he walked out of the room.

Charming got to the door and was about to open it when he heard a small voice behind him.

"I knew you were worried"

David stopped in his tracks and let his forehead rest on the door. "Emma…."

"It's okay. I understand. I shouldn't have said anything"

David spun around to look at his daughter, "No Emma, you never had to feel bad telling us something. You are always able to share anything with us and not feel guilty about it. The only reason we are worried is we don't know how Lily got here, and if she can get into Storybrook than so can others and we just want to make sure that the town in protected. Do you understand?" David said with eyes that were pleading for her to understand.

"I understand" Emma said looking back at her dad with a look that showed him that she did truly mean what she was saying.

"Good" David said leaning in and kissing her forehead before heading back to the door. "Now you and your mom get some rest and we'll do something as a family tonight. I love you Em"

"Love you too Dad"

And with that David was out the door to find out how this Lily girl had gotten passed the town line.

OUAT

Lily sat in the farthest booth from the door that she could in grannies desiring desperately to disappear. She was silent as she worked on her homework and sipped on the hot chocolate she was able to purchase with the loose change she had scrounged together.

She hated feeling alone but then again she wouldn't know how to handle how to feel if she had a family. It was something that had never felt right. She had been adopted by a wonderful family but as much as she tried to make herself except their love, she never could.

When she had met Emma she knew that Emma was like her, except, unlinke herself, Emma actually wanted to be good, she just didn't know how. Lily had tried to do the right thing but it just never was something that came easy to her, she found it easier to do the wrong thing. Emma had to work to do the wrong thing.

Lily continued to sip on her Hot Chocolate and work on her homework when she saw Sheriff Nolan and Gram walk in with Grumpy. She knew that Sheriff Nolan was Emma's dad but she wasn't ready to go up and introduce herself.

She sat as still as possible so not to be noticed when she heard Sheriff Nolan ask the question that made her blood run cold.

"Hey Granny we are looking for a young woman by the name of Lily, do you know her or have you seen her recently?"


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

 **How is Lily going to react to being searched for? What is David going to do when he finds her?**

Lily began to panic. Why was sheriff Nolan looking for her? Had Emma said something about her not having a place to stay? She didn't want to go back to her adoptive family in Boston. She knew she had to get out of the café but she didn't know how she would do it without being noticed. Then she heard the words she knew were inevitable at this point.

"She's right behind you" Granny Answered David pointing to the young brunet in the far booth.

Lily's eyes grew to the size of sausages as she immediately felt panic sweet over her like a title wave.

David saw the panic in the young woman's eyes and knew he only had seconds before she bolted for the door so he swiftly moved in to sit next to her and effectively block her in.

"Hi Lily. My name is David. I'm…"

"You're Emma's Dad" Lily interrupted feeling cornered by the prince

"That's right. I don't want you to be scared. I just want to ask you a few questions. Okay?" David said trying to put the young woman at ease as much as he could.

"Okay" Lily responded timidly

"Lily I'm just wondering how you got to Storybrook. Frankly we don't get too many visitors here." David said trying to lighten the mood a bit

"I ran away from my foster family. I remember Emma was sent to a place called Storybrook and I knew her from foster care so I decided to go find her" Lily said looking down and avoiding eye contact

"You're in foster care?" David questioned

"I was" Lily answered back a bit snarky

"Who are you staying with now?" David questioned a bit concerned about a 16-year-old girl living on the streets of Storybrook.

"Myself. I'm emancipated so I don't have to live with anyone" Lily answered frankly knowing it was a lie but also knowing that David wouldn't know the truth anyway.

"Well what would you think about coming home with me? I'm sure Emma would love some company and then we can talk about finding you a place to live now that you're here. How does that sound?" David said really hoping Lily would agree to his offer.

"That sounds nice…to see Emma I mean…I don't need any handouts" Lily responded defensively

"I would never think you would. Don't think of it as a handout, think of it as a handout. Think of it as a friend helping out a friend okay?"

"But we're not friends" Lily looked at David disgusted

"Well any friend of Emma's is a friend of mine. Let's get going okay?" David said slipping out of the booth.

"Fine" Lily said gathering her things and following David to his truck

OUAT

Emma woke up to the smell of bacon and other yummy smells coming from the kitchen. She could hear her mother humming to whatever tune was on the radio

Emma loved it when her mom sang although it was few and far between but every since she found out she was pregnant she had been singing a lot more.

Emma continued to lay silently on the couch listening to her mother work in the kitchen when the front door opened.

David walked though the door followed by a young woman who Emma recognized as Lily.

"Hey Emma" Lily said shyly looking at her friend who was laying on the couch.

"Lily? What are you doing here?" Emma replied

David gently placed his hand on Lily's shoulder to let her know it was okay to go over and talk to Emma. As he watched the young woman walk towards his daughter and then turned and moved toward the kitchen where is wife was looking at him in shock.

"You're dad found me at grannies and told me I could come here and see you." Lily stopped for a minute "Emma why did you tell your parents about me?" She said lowering her voice so that David and Snow couldn't hear her

Emma followed suit "I didn't mean to, I just asked if my friends could come over and your name just kind of slipped out"

"Well I told your dad that I'm Emancipated and that I don't have to live with anyone so you better follow along with my story before they send me back to my parents in Boston" Lily said a bit threatening

"Lily! You lied to my dad?" Emma said a bit upset with her friend for pulling her into her lie

"I had to Emma. If you and I want to be together this is how it has to be" Lily said

OUAT

"Charming what is that girl doing here?" Snow said a bit anxious having this unknown person in her home, much less talking to her daughter

"I had to find out what she's doing here and I found her at grannies working on homework and she said she didn't have a place to stay. I couldn't just leave her to fend for herself. Besides, now we have her under our roof so we can keep an eye on her" David said trying to relive his wife's fears.

"David you just brought a girl we know nothing about into our house to spend time with our daughter! David she knew Emma before she came to live with us, what if she's a bad influence?"

"and what if Emma's a good influence?" David said "Snow I have a good feeling about this. Besides, she said she's emancipated, so there is no obligation to report her even being here so the town doesn't even have to know"

"She said she's what?" Snow said suddenly very attentive to David's words

"Emancipated" David said a bit confused why that word brought Snow to such a quick response

"I think we need to look into it. I don't know many 17 year olds who are emancipated. I think she's a runaway" Snow said even more concerned than before

"We'll figure it out. But for right now Emma's happy because she has a friend to spend some time with and they are here in our home where we can keep an eye on what's going on so it's really a win win." David said

"I'm going to trust you on this…for now. But I don't like having some unknown teenager in our home." Snow said.

"Thank you" David said kissing the top of her head before walking over to the young women on the couch.

"Alright girls what movie should we watch? Or would you rather play a game?" David said coming over in a way to let the girls know he was coming over as he noticed they may have been having a serious conversation

"Oh dad, Lily has homework, we can't keep her too long" Emma said eyeing Lily like she was trying to burn a hole through her.

"Nonsense Emma. It's fine. I already got the majority of it done anyway. I'm all about watching a movie" Lily came back letting Emma know she wasn't going to get rid of her that easily.

"Then a movie it is!" David said not noticing the building tension between the teens.

"After this movie you HAVE to go!" Emma said in a whisper so as not to let her dad know there was anything wrong.

"Fine! Gosh Emma, where is your sense of adventure?" Lily replied heading toward where David was to help him pick out a movie

Emma knew that Lily's idea of an "Adventure" was not about experiencing something new for the fun of it, but rather a way to get herself and Emma into trouble. Emma knew that her parents were just trying to be nice by letting Lily come over but she really wished that they had gone with their gut and not let her come.

Lily was fine when the boys were around but when it was just her and Emma, Emma always found herself having to go along with whatever plan Lily came up with, and her plans were never something that normally ended well. At least for Emma.


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

 **What is Lily being back in Emma's life going to look like? How will Charming and Snow work through this one? We all love a little mischief, especially when it comes to Emma and Lily is the perfect one to instigate that. The question is, will Snow and Charming get wind of it before Emma can get herself into too much trouble?**

"Alright, so any movie preferences?" David asked as he moved toward the small cabinet the TV sat on. They didn't have very many movies but he was sure they could find at least one the girls could agree on.

"I'm up for whatever Emma wants!" Lily gushed knowing that her presence was only making Emma more and more annoyed

"Dad I'm really not up for a movie." Emma retorted hoping that her injured state would help her convince her dad to send Lily home.

"Come on Emma! You wanted to have friends over, and you can fall asleep during the movie if you want but this will be fun. How about the notebook?" David said really hoping to convince Emma to cheer up.

"Fine" Emma said crossing her arms

"The Notebook it is! Lily why don't you put this in and I'll go get some popcorn" and with that David was off to the kitchen

OUAT

"You're not getting rid of me that easily Emma" Lily snickered as she moved toward the TV

"Lily this is not okay! You need to leave, now!" Emma said just quiet enough that her parents wouldn't hear her.

"Emma what is me being here while we watch a dumb chick flick going to do?"

"Because we never _just_ watch a movie or _just_ hang out, you always come up with some stupid plan that gets me in trouble!"

"I promise, it's different. It's just two friends hanging out okay?"

"Fine, but you have to promise to go home after the movie"

"Promise"

OUAT

David looked back at the girls and saw them talking but Emma still didn't look happy. He couldn't understand why she had been all about Lily coming over earlier but not wanting her here now.

He figured she had only really wanted Neal and Killian over and had thrown Lily's name out there to try and manipulate them into saying yes. But that wasn't like Emma.

Just then Snow came from the bedroom. "Hey how's it going?"

"Well we picked a movie but they still can't seem to agree. I don't get it Snow. She wanted friends over and now she has one and she is trying to find every reason to make her leave"

"That is strange. Maybe she's just in a mood. I'm sure it'll be fine"

"I'm sure you're right" He said kissing her on the head

"So what movie are we watching?" She asked

"The Notebook. I've never heard of it"

"Oh I love this movie! Emma showed it to me when she first moved in with us!" Snow exclaimed

"Well I'm glad you approve! You wanna go play referee with the girls and I'll be right over with the popcorn?"

"If I must" She said before giving him a quick peck on the lips

OUAT

Emma was so desperately tired but she knew that if she fell asleep Lily would do something to her parents or burn down their house and it was the only thing that was keeping her awake.

She had never felt more relief then when she finally saw the credits rolling. "Well that was fun, have a good night Lily! I'll see you at school tomorrow"

"Emma" Snow said a bit shocked at Emma's behavior toward her friend

"What? I'm tired" She replied eyeing her friend praying that she wouldn't try and go back on their deal

"Emma's right Mrs. Nolan, I should get going"

"Lily where are you staying?" David asked remembering seeing the young woman studying in grannies

"With my foster parents" Lily responded deciding to use the situation in her favor

"Who are your foster parents?" Snow pushed as she caught on to what David was getting at

"Oh, you wouldn't know them. But I'm sure they're wondering where I am. I better get going. Thanks for having me" Lily said not making eye contact

"Lily, we know pretty much everyone, who are you staying with?" David pressed a bit harder

Lily knew that she was in trouble because she was actually staying by herself at grannies. "Actually I lied…I was emancipated not too long ago so I live on my own. I have a room at grannies" She said hoping that David and Snow would buy it.

"It's true dad. We tried to do it together but she got approved and I didn't" Emma jumped in to back up her friends story, if not for her friend but for herself.

"What does that even mean?" Snow said confused by what the two girls meant.

"It means you are declared an adult by the state even though you aren't 18" Emma said hoping that the concise definition would suffice.

"It's really a great opportunity because I don't have to bounce from foster home to foster home and I can do what I want. So I'm going to get back to my room at grannies. Goodnight!" Lily said abruptly and grabbed her things and headed toward the door.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay on your own?" David said as Lily b-lined to the door.

"Oh yea! I've always been on my own. See you at school Emma" and with that Lily was gone and Emma was able to breath a sigh of relief.

"Emma what is going on between you and lily?" Snow said immediately turning to her daughter

"Nothing is going on. I'm really tired and I want to sleep and not have to worry about having a guest over" Emma snapped back. The meds were making her extra grumpy.

"Emma Ruth…" David said warning Emma to watch her tone.

"Dad I'm in a lot of pain, I'm exhausted, and I just want to sleep. Is that so bad?" Emma said trying to be as honest as she could

"Alright, if you're that tired let's get you tucked in here and let you sleep" David said eyeing his wife to let her know he was totally buying it but that they could wait till tomorrow to press further.

"Thank you" Emma said rolling over as best she could and closing her eyes. It was only a few minutes before sleep over took her completely.

OUAT

After tucking Emma in and watching her quickly fall asleep Snow and Charming headed to their room.

"David I don't get it" Snow said getting into bed

"I don't either. Maybe you were right, maybe it's a phase or just the pain meds talking"

"I don't know David, I feel like she was trying to hid something for us. Is Emanc….whatever it is actually a real thing?"

"I'll look into tomorrow. There has to be some record of them applying for it and I'll find out where Lily is really staying" David said trying to reassure his wife.

"Thank you David" She said laying her head on his chest.

"We'll take care of her Snow…we always do" David said leaning down and kissing the top of her head.

Shortly they were both asleep


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

 **Will Charming and Snow figure out the complicated relationship between Emma and Lily or will Emma be able to keep them in the dark?**

 _ **Three Years Ago...**_

 _"Hurry up Emma!" Lily said as she was half way up the fire escape. Emma knew she had to follow her but she still didn't like the idea._

 _"Lily what if we just go back? The punishment for running away is going to be less than trespassing" Emma said trying to keep her friend out of more trouble_

 _"Emma I do this all the time! No one will find us but you have to hurry up! We're running out of time!" Lily said trying to get her friend to hurry as the sound of sirens was coming closer._

 _Against her better judgement Emma started to climb the fire escape to the vacant apartment. Once they were inside Emma felt a strange sense of comfort. Her foster parents couldn't get to her and her foster brother couldn't beat her up. At the same time she knew that she and Lily couldn't survive here long without food and heat._

 _"Lily, this is great for now but how are we going to survive living here alone?"_

 _"Don't worry I already though of that" Lily said pulling a credit card out of her back pocket "I lifted this off my old man before I went to your house to get you"_

 _"Lily stealing is wrong! We can't use that!"_

 _"Why not? My old man doesn't care about me! I may have been adopted Emma but I told you, I'm just like you!" Lily said pleading for her friend to accept her answer_

 _"Fine, but we have got to get our of here soon or else someone's going to find us"_

 _Just then there was a knock on the door and two cops came in to the small apartment taking the two girls into custody_

 ** _Present Day_**

Charming and Snow were in the kitchen starting to make breakfast before Emma and Snow started getting ready for the day. He still couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right between Emma and Lily. The way Emma had been acting toward her so called friend was very unlike her but then again she was in a lot of pain and the pain med's were known to make her grumpy but still, something just wasn't adding up.

Snow had gotten up and started getting ready so when breakfast was finished David went over to the couch to wake up his sleeping daughter.

"Hey Em. Time to get up sweetheart" David said shaking Emma's shoulder

"Five more minutes" Emma grumbled trying to turn away from her dad with very little room on the couch to do so

"No, you have to go back to school today" Charming said shaking her shoulder again

"I don't want to" Emma groaned

"I made pancakes" Charming said with a smile knowing that would get Emma up

Emma opened her eyes and stared up at her dad "You're evil you know that?"

"Come on, let me help you get to the table" David said as he put one arm under Emma's arm and the other under her legs to carry her to the table

"I could use my crutches you know" Emma said not wanting to let her dad know that she actually liked him carrying her.

"Yes but you'll be using them all day and I don't want you to get tired out too quickly" David said loving being able to hold Emma in his arms even if just for a moment.

Emma just rolled here eyes as her father pulled out the kitchen chair and sat her down in it. "Eat up, then I'll go upstairs and get you some clothes okay?"

"Okay" Emma replied still not happy to be awake

Charming sat down next to his daughter and began to eat his own food and they were both joined by Snow a few moments later

"So Emma", Snow said starting off the conversation at the other wise silent table "Did you have fun having Lily over last night?" She was really hoping that Emma would open up to them so they could know why she seemed to be so upset with her so called friend last night.

"I guess" Emma said taking another bite of her pancakes

"I thought you wanted friends over last night..." Charming pushed a bit hoping to get more of an answer

"It was fine" Emma said still not making eye contact. She really didn't want to explain to her parents the history that she and Lily had

"Emma I can't help but think that you don't necessarily like Lily. If that is the case, than...than why did you ask for her to come over?" Snow said finally just cutting to the chase

"I like her enough...I was just in a lot of pain. Speaking of can I get a pain pill?" Emma said taking a pancake and effectively ending the conversation

Snow and Charming shared a silent conversation as neither of them were buying anything that Emma was saying before Charming got up and headed to the bathroom to retrieve Emma's pain pills.

Emma hated when her parents would have those silent conversations in front of her. She also knew that this conversation was not over.

"Here you go Em" David said setting the pain pill next to her cup of water "What do you want to wear today, I'll go up and get it"

"Just Jeans and a T-shirt. Thanks" Emma said before popping the pill in her mouth and swallowing it

"Emma..." Snow said hoping she could get an answer out of her

"Mom, it's fine. Lily and I are fine. Having her over last night was fine. Can we please drop it?" Emma said taking a final bite of her pancakes. She would have walked off but her parents had put her crutches out of reach. However Emma was saved by her father coming down the stairs

"Here you go Em, Jeans and a T-shirt like you asked" He said heading toward the bathroom to put her clothes in there so she could change. "Here are your crutches" he said walking back over to the table "Do you need help?"

"Dad...no...I don't need help" Emma said as her cheeks turned a bit red

"Okay, just call if you change your mind" David said swallowing a laugh as he watched his daughters face react And with that Emma crutched her way to the bathroom.

Snow walked up to charming who then wrapped his arms around her "I'm worried about her David. WHen you went up stairs I tried to talk to her again and she cut me off and just kept saying everything was fine"

"of course she did, everything is always fine in her world" David said in his own concerned tone

"I don't like sending her off to school to have to spend time with that girl if something is bothering her" Snow said looking at David hoping he would have a solution

"I know...but if we don't send her off to school then she'll know we are on to her. No we let her go to school and then I'll go into the station and pull up any records I can on Lily. Once we have the information we need then we can confront Emma"

Just then Emma came crutching out of the bathroom.

"Hey Kid! You ready to go?" Charming said flashing her his biggest smile hoping she wouldn't catch on to the fact that they were talking about her.

"Yep, let's get it over with" Emma said crutching toward the door.

Charming kissed Snow and then headed toward the door where Emma was waiting

OUAT

On their way to school Charming decided to try one last time to see if Emma would talk.

"So the notebook was...well it was something!" He said with a small chuckle "I can see why you and your mom like it though" David said trying to see if coming from it with a different approach would work better

"Yea, I like it...it kind of reminds me of you and mom" Emma said shyly

"Aww! That's sweet Emma!" Charming said reaching over and pulling Emma in for a side hug "I like that idea of your mom and I growing old together"

"Yea, it's a nice thought isn't it?" Emma said with a small smile thinking about her parents getting old some day and being that cute old couple

"Did Lily like the movie?" David said hoping that it slipped in well enough that Emma would just keep talking

"Yea I guess" Emma said looking down at her phone

"Are you two okay?" Charming said hoping that he wasn't pushing too hard

"Yea we're fine" Emma said still not looking up from her phone

"So what do you determine as 'Fine' with your friend because you two looked pretty upset when you were talking to each other last night" David said really hoping for a more detailed answer as they were getting closer and closer to the school.

"Dad I'm going to tell you what I told mom. Lily and I are fine, there is nothing for either of you to be worried about okay?" Emma said giving her dad an annoyed look

"Alright, just want to make sure everything is okay Em" David said knowing that she wasn't going to give them any more information. "Well looks like we're here, have a good day honey! I love you!" David yelled out the door as Emma got out. Something was just not setting right with him but he wasn't going to let this whole thing go until he got to the bottom of it. He pulled out of the school and headed for the station.


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52**

 **What kind of information is David going to find on Lily? On Emma? With all this information into Emma's past, how will Emma react?**

Emma crutched into school annoyed that both of her parents would not let the whole Lily situation go. She understood they were worried but she could handle this on her own without her parents getting involved.

She knew that they wouldn't stop pushing until they got an answer that would appease their curiosity so Emma would have to come up with something good before she got picked up.

She continued to crutch toward her locker when low and behold came Lily.

"What do you want?" Emma said in an annoyed tone as she put in her locker combination

"Good to see you too Emma" Lily said ignoring her friends obvious distain for her presence

"Lily I'm really not in the mood right now" Emma said turning to face her

"Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. What's the matter with you?"

"You are what's the matter with me! My parents keep asking what's wrong between the two of us because they saw us fighting last night and now their asking about our past together and frankly I don't want to go back there!" Emma blurted out feeling relieved to finally be getting it off of her chest

"Why are you so against telling them we knew each other and may have gotten into a bit of trouble? It's not like we did anything that bad!"

"You may think so. Your dad got you out of any punishment for braking into that apartment. I got two weeks in juve for that!" Emma had never told anyone about her two weeks in the juvenile detention center that resulted from her and Lily's little adventure running from her foster home.

"Emma…I didn't know…." Lily said feeling genuinely bad that Emma had gotten in trouble for that

"Exactly! After that I didn't hear from you until you showed up here! You got me in trouble and left me to take the blame!"

"Emma…My parents wouldn't let me see you. I tried, believe me"

"How can I believe you?!" Emma cut her off "You had everything I wanted, a family that adopted you and loved you and a home yet you didn't care!"

"Emma I told you, my parents were not all they were cracked up to be. They didn't really love me like you think"

"Well that loved you enough to adopt you didn't they!?" Emma shouted

"Everything okay here?" Neal said walking up on the situation

"Everything is fine!" Emma said slamming her locker "Let's go to class" and with that Neal walked Emma to her class leaving Lily standing at the lockers

OUAT

"Hey Gram" Charming said walking into the station

"Hey David. How are you?"

"Good. Hey I need you to do me a favor. I need you to pull Emma's records from her time in the foster care system and see if there was ever a time where she filed for emancipation"

"Okay…everything okay?" Gram asked a little suspicious about David wanting all of these records after Emma living with him for over a year now.

"Emma has a friend from her past in town named Lily and they told us that they had both applied for Emancipation before Emma came to live with me and Lily got it but Emma didn't. The story just doesn't seem to add up"

"Fair enough. I'll look into what I can find"

"Thanks Gram. I'm going to go make the rounds and I'll be back."

"Sounds good" Gram replied and with that David was out the door to make his rounds.

OUAT

"Thanks for helping me get to class" Emma said to Neal in a bit of a shy voice.

"Not a problem. You wanna talk about what was goin' on back there at the lockers?" Neal said seeing that it was still bothering Emma

"Maybe later. Well anyway…this is my stop…see you at lunch" Emma said crutching into the classroom.

"Yea, see you then" Neal said heading to his own class. As he turned the corner he ran into Lily. "Oh hey. You okay?"

Lily looked like a dear in the headlights looking at Neal. She wasn't expecting to see anyone. "I'm fine. Tell Emma I'm sorry and I'm out of her life" and began to walk away

"Whoa…what are you talking about?" Neal said in complete confusion

"I mean I'm going back to Boston. I thought it would be a good idea to come here but obviously it wasn't so I'm leaving"

"Lily!" Neal yelled down the hall but Lily just kept walking and exited out the door to the court yard.

Neal didn't know what to do. He figured he would just talk to Emma about it at lunch.

OUAT

Charming came back to the station about an hour after he left to make the rounds

"Hey Charming I found Emma's files but there is no mention here of her ever applying for emancipation. But when you mentioned her friend Lily I was able to do some more digging and it looks like Lily was adopted as a baby and has been in nothing but trouble since"

"What kind of trouble?"

"Petty theft, ran away from home more than a dozen times, and there is currently an APB out for her in Boston and it says she's been missing for three weeks"

"When was she enrolled at the high school?"

Gram typed a few things on the computer "Three weeks ago"

"So she's a runaway…then how could Emma have known her?"

"Well that's something else that I found. Emma spent two weeks in juvenile detention after she and Lily were caught trespassing. Lily's dad got her out of it but because Emma was in foster care she had no one to go to bat for her so she was still punished"

"Poor Emma…She never told us that…but that would make sense if Lily coming here was the first time Emma had seen her since then why they were arguing at the house last night"

"Yea. But David more importantly here at the moment we have to take her into custody and get the Boston police to come pick her up"

"You're right. I'll go over to the school and pick her up. Can you get in contact with Boston?"

"Yea, sure. But we have to figure out away to get her in contact with the Boston police because we can't cross the town line…"

"I hadn't thought about that. But Regina can! So call Regina and see if she would be willing to escort Lily to Boston and if she agrees then get in contact with Boston police. If she doesn't, then just wait till I get back"

Charming grabbed his jacket and headed out to bring Lily to the station.

As he was driving to the school he noticed a small framed girl walking down the street with a hoodie over her head. He knew that all the kids were supposed to be in school so he pulled over and flashed his sirens but the girl took off. Charming drove after her and was easily able to cut her off when she went to run into the street. She stopped in front of the cruiser and looked up to reveal that she was Lily.

"Lily? What are you doing out here?" David said getting out of the car

"Oh hi Mr. Nolan. I just wasn't feeling well so I'm going back to my room at Grannies rest" Lily said about to walk away when Charming stepped in front of her

"So if you didn't feel good why did you run?" David said crossing his arms

"Sorry…old habits die hard I guess. When you are in the foster care system sirens never mean anything good" Lily said not making eye contact

"Lily I know what's really going on here. You ran away from your parents in Boston. You're going to have to come with me" David said while taking a hold of Lily's arm lightly and guiding her to the back of the squad car.

As they drove to the station David decided to see if Lily would tell David why the two girls were arguing at the house last night.

"Lily. I know that things are tense between you and Emma. If you wanna talk about it…"

"Mr Nolan I don't think Emma would like that very much. If it's okay with you, I think you should talk to her"

"I can respect that. Thank you Lily. Now I want to let you know we are contacting the Boston police because your parents have been looking for you"

"Mr Nolan please don't send me back! I know I lied about being in foster care buy my adoptive parents really aren't good people. That's why I ran away from home"

"Lily I will pass that information along to the Boston police but it's my job to let them know that you are okay and that you are safe."

"Mr Nolan, Please!"

"Lily what is so horrible about your parents?"

"They don't care about me like you care about Emma. They only want me around because it makes them look good that they adopted a little girl."

"Lily I can tell you that your parents care more about you than that even though it may not seem like it. I'm sure that they love you. The teen years are hard. Trust me. Well we're here. Let's get inside" David said getting out of the car to let Lily out.

Lily was devastated that she was going to be sent home to her parents.


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53**

 **Sorry it's been a while since I've updated. I have had so much going on but right now I don't want to be doing homework so you get a new chapter** **J**

Lily's head was swimming on their way to the station. She did not want to be sent back to her parents in Boston. She never understood why but she never could get along with them no matter how hard either side tried. She knew that they wanted to love her and she wanted to be loved but she just couldn't bring herself to accept their love or do things to deserve it.

She had been so envious of Emma's relationship with her parents and how she desired to have them see the best in her. She knew that was how a family was supposed to be and why she ran away from her family when it wasn't that.

Lily hadn't even realized that they had pulled up to the station until David opened the door. She reluctantly got out of the squad car and allowed David to gently guide her inside.

"Lily you can sit here, I just need to talk to Gram a minute" and with that David was motioning for Gram to follow him into his office where they could have a private conversation but still keep an eye on her.

"Any luck with Regina?" David said looking past Gram. He knew Lily was still just a child but he could tell that she would take an opportunity to run if she could. It reminded him a lot of how Emma was when she first came to live with him.

"Yea she said she could do it so I called Boston and they will be ready in two hours to meet Regina"

Just then Regina walked in looking down at the small girl who was sitting with her arms crossed.

"You must be Lily" She said not thrilled to have to drive the girl out of town but also knowing that it was better to not have outsiders in storybrooke if at all possible

"Who are you?"

"You can call me Mayor Mills. I will be escorting you to Boston" she said not impressed with the teenagers attitude.

"Regina, can we speak with you for a moment" David said poking this head out from his office and eyeing the pair

Regina came into the office still eyeing the young woman. "Well…you didn't bother to mention that she had an attitude a mile long" Regina said snidely. She wasn't looking forward to having to drive for an hour with the girl in the car in her current state.

"I know she can be a handful but she is still just a teenager" David replied hoping to keep the peace long enough to get Lily back to her parents.

"I don't care how old she is, she needs to suck it up and realize life is tuff" Regina said crossing her arms not liking the prince defending the girls bad attitude.

"Regina I need you to put aside your personal feelings about her and simply get her to the Boston authorities and then she is no longer our problem" David said giving her a pointed look

"Fine, we better get going. The faster I can get this over with the better" She said opening the door to the station.

All three adults exited and David was thankful that Lily was still sitting where he had left her as he couldn't see her from where Regina had been standing.

"Okay Lily this is Regina and she will be escorting you to Boston. I'm sorry that things had to come to this but it is best that you be with your family right now. But you are always welcome to visit as long as you have your parents permission" He said giving the girl a pointed look to let her know he did not want to see her showing up on their door step running away again

"I understand" Lily replied looking at the floor

"Well let's get going" Regina said looking from David to Gram and then to Lily signaling for her to follow

David and Gram walked the two women out and made sure Lily got into Regina's car and that they were off safe. David hated to admit it but he felt a sense of relief that Lily was finally gone. He hated how upset Emma had been and now he could breath a bit of relief in knowing that everyone who was supposed to be in Storybrooke was there and outsiders were no longer making everyone worry.

David and Gram turned and walked back into the station and began to go back to work as usual

OUAT

Emma crutched into the lunch room and saw Neal waving at her from a table just a few feet away. She crutched over and was relieved to finally be sitting. It was wearing her out having to crutch everywhere that she went.

"Hey how's your day so far?" Neal said pulling out another chair for Emma to put her leg up on.

"I'm just waiting for that final bell to ring. I'm ready to go home" Emma said laying her head back and groaning

"That bad uh?" Neal said trying not to laugh at his friend

"You try crutching around everywhere with a backpack on. It gets exhausting!" Emma complained.

"Well I have some news that will cheer you up, Lily's out of the picture now!" Neal said it a bit more upbeat then he meant to, he just wasn't sure exactly how to break it to her

"What are you talking about?" Emma said unwrapping her sandwich

"I ran into her after I walked you to class and she said she was leaving and to tell you" Neal said as innocently as he could hoping to move on to the next subject as he found this one a bit uncomfortable

"Well good riddance to her then" Emma said taking a bite of her PB and J

"What is up between you two?" Neal couldn't take not knowing what was going on anymore

"Let's just say we have a past and it wasn't pretty" Emma said not wanting to go into details. Although, she didn't really care if Neal knew because she had known him during her time in foster care

"Come on Emma, you and I have a past. What's the big deal with her?" Neal said leaning in a bit more to Emma

"Fine! You want the truth? She got me to fall for one of her crazy plans and got me sent to Juve. Happy?" Emma was getting annoyed with Neal's 'Need to know' persistence

"Sorry Emma….I didn't know" Neal was feeling bad for pushing her

"Yea. So then I don't see her until she shows up here and wants to be friends again. Sorry but I wasn't interested so I really don't give a crap if she leaves Storybrooke. I'll see you after school" And with that Emma got up and started crutching away from the lunch table

OUAT

Charming looked at the clocked and realized he had to pick Emma up in 20 minutes from school. He decided to finish up the report he was working on and then give himself enough time to stop by grannies before he went to the school. He figured having a hot chocolate for Emma would be a good way to buffer the conversation they were going to have to have about Lily.

He felt horrible knowing that Lily had gotten Emma in trouble not only with her foster family but with the authorities and had someone how been able to keep herself from every having to take the blame. In reality he couldn't really blame Emma for being upset with her former friend.

He signed the paperwork and put the folder away before grabbing his jacket and heading out to the school. When he arrived he parked as close as he could to the cross walk. He figured that Emma would be tired after a full day crutching around the school and wouldn't want to have to crutch out into the parking lot.

This was only Emma's first of four weeks having the cast on and David knew it was going to take a lot out of her and she was probably going to be a bit much to deal with until she was finally able to be up and moving on her own. It took her a bit longer than usual to come out of the school. David wanted so badly to go in and help her but he knew she would hate that so he waited as patiently as he could.

Once he saw her coming he got out and came around the passenger side to help her get in.

"Hey Em how was your day?" He said kissing the side of her head and helping get her backpack off

"Ddddaaaadddd" Emma whined. She would never let him know how much his little signs of affections warmed her heart, at least not when he did them in public.

"Okay, okay. Let's get you in the car. There is a hot chocolate in the cup holder for you" He said before closing the door and throwing her backpack over his shoulder. After putting the bag in the truck he returned to the drivers seat

"How was your day?"

"It was fine. Nothing to report."

"How is your leg feeling?"

"It's sore"

"Well we will get it elevated and get you some pain meds once we get to the station. Anything else happen today?" He didn't know if she had known about Lily leaving the school early

"Nope…is there something that was supposed to happen?" She said looking at her father with a questioning look. He always tried to get her to talk after school but today held a bit more desperation then usual

"Emma I need to tell you something…"

"I know…Lily's gone" Emma finished his sentence for him with no emotion taking a sip of her hot cocoa

"Are you okay with that?" David said a bit taken a back by his daughters lack of emotions towards her supposed friend being gone

"Yea, it's whatever. I knew she wouldn't stick around for long" Emma commented still not really acknowledging David.

"So did you know that she wasn't emancipated" Emma did her best to not react to this question. She knew she was caught in her own lie but she wasn't quite ready to admit it.

"Oh really?" She said. She figured that an answer like that would get her enough information so that she could cover her lie.

"Emma" David said realizing his daughter had known

"what?"

"Did you or did you not know that Lily wasn't emancipated?" David said a bit more stern

"Fine" Emma rolled her eyes "I knew. I just didn't want her at the house anymore and I knew that if you found out she was a run away you would make her stay and I just wasn't up for company" Emma knew she was busted

"Emma! We could have figured out a place for her to stay! You didn't have to lie to us and send her off alone" David said a bit shocked by Emma's response. It wasn't like her to be so heartless

"Dad she's fine. She has done this her whole life. She likes being on her own" Emma had pulled out her phone and was hoping her dad would drop the topic.

"Well did you know that she was adopted?"

"Yes" Emma said in a way that could not hide the sadness in her voice

"Well her parents have been looking for her, so we sent her back to Boston so she could be with them." David said still eyeing his daughter after her last response realizing that the punishment she had received for her and Lily's stunt was not the root of the problem, but that Lily had been adopted and she hadn't

"Well good for her" Emma responded wanting more than anything to be invisible in that moment. She could feel her dad staring at her with that look of guilt that she had never been adopted. She knew she couldn't go there right now or else she would never regain her composure.

They rode the remainder of the way to the station in silence. Charming was worried that maybe he had touched something that was too much for Emma and had caused her to close up but he wasn't going to let that happen. He was going to show her that he was there for her, no matter what.


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

 **Sorry it has taken so long for me to get a new chapter out. I hope you enjoy this. Time to move the story along a bit.**

 **Please leave comments! They make my day and help me know where you would like to see this story go as well as keep me writing.**

Emma crutched into the station and found the empty desk next to Gram's and plopped down in the chair. Crutching around all day had been difficult and she was officially worn out.

"Emma put your leg, up I'm going to grab the ice pack and your pain meds" Charming said coming in behind Emma and heading to his office.

Emma rolled her eyes but found the chair that was near by and put her leg up on it which finally released some of the pressure and the swelling in her leg.

"Here you go sweetheart" David said walking over with a glass of water, an ice pack, and some pain pills.

"Thank dad" Emma said with a small smile as she popped the pills in her mouth and chased them down with the water. David picked up the ice pack and placed it at the top of her cast so that the cold would work it's way down her leg.

"How does that feel?" He said looking at his daughter to try and read her face knowing that she wouldn't tell him the truth

"It's fine" Emma said giving him a shy smile. She hated when her dad or anyone really worried about her or tried to take care of her. Not because she didn't appreciate it, but because she felt like she was being a burden and she had learned the hard way that when you are in the way it won't end well for you. She always knew that in order to survive in her foster homes, she needed to make herself as invisible as possible, which means she never let her foster parents know if anything was wrong with her or if she didn't like something they did. Although she knew things were different with her parents, she still couldn't shake the feeling that is she became too much of a burden that they would change their mind and send her away.

"Emma" the voice of her father brought her back to the moment. "yea?" She responded quickly, shaking her head slightly to try and clear her head. "You okay? Is your leg still in pain?" David said as the worry crept into his voice.

"Yea, Sorry dad. I was just thinking about something" Emma said giving him a slight smile to try and calm his fears

"Emma, you forget where you inherited your superpower from. Now do you want to try that again?" David said giving Emma a look that let her know he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Dad…"

"No Emma. I know that you are upset. I know that in the past you have had to deal with everything alone but now you have your mother and I and we aren't going to let you go through life alone anymore." He said placing his hand on her knee. "Now why don't you tell me what's going on and let me help okay?" He said giving Emma a smile that basically begged his daughter to open up to him.

"Alright...My past with Lily is...let's just say it's complicated" Emma said not making eye contact with her father. She really didn't want to have to explain.

"I know"

"You do?" Emma looked at her dad in complete shock.

"Yea. I knew something was wrong so I used my position as sheriff to pull Lily's file and I found out about how you ended up in Juvenile detention after you two broke into an abandoned apartment. Emma I just wish you would have told me."

"I'm sorry. I promise I don't do that kind of thing anymore and that I'll stay out of trouble" Emma said with a desperation and pleading tone.

"Emma…"

"Please don't send me back" Emma said in a defeated tone as a single tear slid down her face

David was shocked by his daughters sudden outburst of emotion. He kneeled down in front of her and placed a reassuring hand on her knee and took a deep breath before speaking. He knew he had to handle this situation very delicately. "Emma we are never going to send you away"

"But what about everything you know?"

"Just because I know about a mistake you made a long time ago does not mean I feel any differently about you. Emma I love you no matter what. There is nothing you could ever do or say that would change that. Your mother and I already missed out on 15 years with you and we aren't going to miss out on any more"

Emma sat still staring at her hands. David felt like he was fighting a loosing battle. He knew that his words were not getting through to his daughter and he had to find a way to break open just a small part of her walls so that his words would reach her.

"Emma, we all make mistakes. Your mother once took a potion so that she would forget me in order for her to go after Regina. It hurt me so much when she did that, to look into her eyes and not see love but it only made me fight for her all the harder. Emma I am never going to stop fighting for you no matter how much you push your mother and I away"

"So you're not mad that I ended up in Juvi?" Emma said barely looking up to get a look at her father's face. She didn't want to make eye contact but she also knew that it was the only way she could tell if he was lying to her or not.

"No Emma!" David said moving in to hug Emma, cradling the back of her head with his hand. He just needed to hold her if not for her for himself. He hated to think about his daughter having to go through that alone. "Emma I love you so much. I'm just sorry that I wasn't there to fight for you so that you didn't have to go to that awful place"

"I wish you were there to" Emma said with a sad smile

"But I'm here now and nothing like that is going to happen to you. But in order for me to fight for you, you have to let me know what's going on" He said placing his hand on her cheek and using his thumb to wipe away a stray tear

"I know" Emma said looking back down. She felt awful that her father wanted so desperately to be apart of her life but she had done nothing but push him away and cause him pain. She didn't want to push them away but it was the only way she knew how to protect herself.

"Okay Kiddo. Why don't you work on your homework for a little bit and I'll finish up here so we can go home okay?" He gave her a small smile wanting to let her know he understood where she was at. He didn't want to push her any further for fear that she would put her walls back up.

"Okay" Emma said returning the smile

David got up and headed to his office but couldn't help stealing a look at Emma every few minutes to make sure she was okay. He was determined to protect her at all costs, even if she didn't want him to.

OUAT

David carried Emma up to the loft. She was completely exhausted from crutching around school all day and had fallen asleep in the short car ride from the station to their home. When he got to the door he lightly used his foot to tap on the door. Snow opened it and gave him a warm smile seeing their daughter curled up in his arms. She had unconsciously grabbed his shirt and turned into his chest. David was simply beaming with pride.

"Well hello there daddy" Snow said stepping aside so that David could bring her in. He walked in and laid her on the couch before walking back over to his wife and wrapping his arms around her waist and bringing her in close

"Hello Mommy" He said before passionately kissing his wife.

"Seeing you being a daddy is really hot" She said pulling away and giving him a teasing smile

"I've always heard woman couldn't resist a man holding a baby" He smiled back before giving her another long kiss

"Especially if that baby is one that they made together" Snow smiled

"Wanna make another one?" Charming said with a devious smile

"Charming!" Snow said hitting his peck "Our daughter is asleep on the couch just 5 feet away! Besides I think you were already pretty successful" She said pointing to her stomach

"The key word is she's asleep!" He said kissing her neck

"Stop it!" She said holding back her laughter and pulling away from him.

"Oh come on. We didn't get to provide her with any traumatic childhood memories for 15 years so we have some catching up to do!" He said reaching forward and placing his hands on her hips

"Maybe later. But first I need to finish dinner" she said standing on her tip toes to give him a quick peck on the lips

"Fine…" He said rolling his eyes in jest. "How was your day?"

"It was good! Nothing crazy to report. How about you?"

"Well we found out that Lily is actually from Boston and her parents have been searching for her. I had Gram look into her past to see if she was actually emancipated and that's when we found the APB out for her. I went to the school to bring her in and found her on her way to grannies"

"Where is she now?" Snow said in a concerned voice

"Regina took her to Boston"

"Oh poor Emma! She can't be taking it well that she lost another friend, especially someone who knew her before she came here"

"Well…" Charming wasn't sure if he should tell his wife about what he found out about Emma's past.

Snow caught the hesitation in his voice and turned completely around from the pot of sauce she was stirring to look him square in the eye. "Charming. Do not keep information about our daughter from me."

"Snow…"

"David"

He began to rub the back of his neck nervously

"David I have the right to know something that obviously effects our daughter in a big way, even if it hurts me."

"I know" David said walking over to his wife and wrapping his arms around her waist "I found out that neither of the girls had ever applied for emancipation. Lily was an orphan but had been adopted when she was a baby. Lily has a rap sheet a mile long of petty crime and at some point when she came into Emma's life she convinced Emma to break into an abandoned apartment. They got caught and Lily got off but Emma was sent to Juvenile detention. They hadn't seen each other until Lily showed up here in Storybrook"

Snow's eyes said it all. She felt anger, hurt, sadness. She hated to think that no one was there to fight for Emma and that she had to go to such an awful place like Juvenile detention where who knows what happened. "That explains her attitude toward Lily then when she was over here the other night"

"Exactly. I feel awful that we forced her to go through that. I never would have…"

"She knows that" Snow said placing her hand on her husbands face

"I talked to her at the station and told her that we want to help her but she has to let us know that. I'm not sure if it got through to her…"

"It did. Everything we say gets to her, but she is the one who has to choose wither or not to accept it. We can't blame ourselves Charming"

"How can we not?" He said with sorrow in his voice

"Because we didn't know what sending her though that wardrobe would mean. But now that she's here we can make sure that nothing like that ever happens again"

"You're right. You always are" Charming said giving her a slightly sad smile

"I Know" She said giving him a sly smile "Now why don't you go wake up our little princess and I'll dish up some spaghetti for all of us"

"As you wish" he said placing a kiss on her lips before heading to the couch

Snow knew he was beating himself up about all of this and she was as well but it only reaffirmed her desire to make sure that Emma had only good memories from this point forward.

OUAT

Things went on at a pretty normal pace for the next few weeks. The Charming's had gotten into a good routine with Snow taking Emma to school and Charming picking her up and bringing her to the station and having dinner together each night.

Snow was almost full term and had began to babyproof the entire loft in preparation making for some interesting outbursts from her husband and daughter as the fought to get the drawers in the kitchen open.

Snow was beyond excited to add a new little member to their family but she was also secretly scared that it would cause Emma to push them away and that she would feel like they were trying to have what they never had with her. She and Charming had probably drove Emma insane with the amount of time they spent talking to her and trying to get her to open up but they knew that once the baby came things would change and they wanted to make sure that Emma knew just how much they truly loved her before that happened.

Things were getting ready to change and everyone felt it…and each of them was dealing with it in their own way.


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55**

 **I know that this is long over due and I apologize. I never wanted to be the person who took months to update but things have been super crazy that I just haven't had the time. I also had horrible writers block and didn't know where I wanted this story to go. I have a better idea now but if you have any ideas for what you want to see then just leave a comment and I will see what I can do.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

The sound of a screaming baby rang through the small apartment. Emma growled and grabbed her pillow to cover her head hoping to drown out some of her little brothers infuriatingly high pitched screams.

Neal was only a few weeks old but had lungs that could out last an Olympic swimmer. She loved his little angelic face but waking up to the sounds of his waling was beginning to grate on her.

Knowing there was no sense in trying to go back to sleep she made her way down stairs. Thankfully it was Saturday so she could sneak in a nap later when the little monster was finally quiet. She had never been one for naps but since her little brothers arrival she had grown very fond of her small, uninterrupted times of sleep.

"David can you please hurry up" Snow said with Neal in her arms trying to get him to quiet down

"Snow I'm doing it as fast as I can" David replied a bit harsher then he had planned on.

The couple who normally was so poised and loving was quite a site. Both of them still had bed head and were wearing dirty t-shirts and Snow was wearing sweat pants while David dawned a pair of basketball shorts and white tube socks.

"Good morning guys" Emma said mostly to herself as she made her way to the kitchen to get a bowl of cereal. The scene in front of her had become the norm since Neal came home about a month ago.

"Snow I'm sorry" David said bringing the bottle over to Snow and kissing her on the forehead

"I know Charming, we are all lacking in sleep and tempers are going to run short. Hopefully this little one will start realizing that sleep is not the enemy" She said turning to her son and talking in a raised voice tone.

Charming sat next to his wife wrapping his arm around her shoulder as they both made faces at the little price who had finally quieted down and was happily eating his bottle.

Emma knew deep down that her parents loved her just as much as her brother but the fact that they hadn't even noticed her coming down stairs hurt her more than she would admit. She knew that her parents would have loved to get to raise her like they were getting to do with Neal. She knew that they loved her just as much as her brother, but she couldn't help the voice that kept perpetuating the lie that they were trying to replace her.

Emma knew that she needed some time away from her parents and a screaming baby.

As she ate her cereal her parents had both come over and given her a hug and told her how much they loved her and then returned back to the couch inviting Emma to join but she decided to go back up to her room.

While up in her room Emma took a shower and got dressed for her day hoping that her parents would be too distracted to notice her exit from the apartment. As she made her way down stairs he made note of her parents locations within the apartment. Snow was in she and Charming's room putting Neal down for a nap and David was in the kitchen making a large pot of coffee in an attempt to remain upright.

Emma knew this was her only chance. She walked over to the door and quickly slipped on her boots and was half way out the door before she finally spoke.

"By guys, see you late!"

"What?" David said turning around. He turned around just in time to see a blond blur disappear behind the door.

"EMMA RUTH!" He said going after his daughter without even taking the time to put on shoes. He ran down the stairs and got a grip on Emma's arm right as she was opening the main door to the street.

"Where do you think you're going young lady?" David said placing a hand on both of Emma's fore arms.

"What do you mean? I told you and mom that I was going to hang out with my friends" Emma lied. She really hoped that her father's lack of sleep would keep him from seeing through her.

"Emma don't lie to me. I may be exhausted but I would remember if you told me you were going to be handing out with friends today" David said crossing his arms and giving Emma his dad look.

"Dad, you haven't slept in days. I promise I told you and mom that I was going out with friends. Now I'm going to be late so if you would excuse me" Emma said as she started to slowly walk backwards toward the door.

David saw her movements and quickly got a firm grip on her forearm and spun around so that he stood between Emma and the exit.

"Not so fast young lady. I don't remember a word of this and yes, I may be beyond exhausted but you are still my kid and I know when you are lying."

"Dad I'm not lying" Emma said trying to sound offended and not give away her guilt.

"Well if you're so sure let's go ask your mom"

"Fine" Emma said having already started to make her way up the stairs. "Mom, tell dad that I made plans for today" she said bursting into the loft.

"EMMA! You're going to wake your brother!"

"Sorry" Emma said in a whisper "Please tell dad that I made plans before my friends think I ditched them."

"Snow I don't remember her telling us she was going to be going out with friends today"

"I don't either" Snow said crossing her arms and looking sternly at her daughter.

"Mom, dad. Neither of you have slept in days and frankly neither have I and I don't blame you for forgetting but I don't think that it's fair that I don't get to hand out with my friends because of it" Emma knew this was her last chance so she had to give it her all

"Emma, we may be exhausted but we aren't stupid. We know what you're up to" Snow said replicating her husbands stance.

"Emma it's not fair of you to try and manipulate us to get your way. We know you are going through a hard time right now…"

"Dad stop! Fine, I lied. But I can't be in this house anymore! I have to get out!" Emma finally exploded

"Emma" David said in a softer voice as he walked toward his daughter and wrapped his arms around her placing his hand on the back of her head to cradle it.

"I'm sorry. Em. Your mother and I understand that you need some time away, trust me." He pulled her away enough so that he could cup her face in his hands. "But please don't lie to us. We are on your side and we know you need some time away but we also need to know you're safe."

"I'm sorry Dad" Emma said as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"I forgive you"

"We both do" Snow said coming up next her husband

"Now, I'm not happy you lied to us but…it's been a long few weeks so as long as you promise to be honest with us, I don't see why you can't go meet up with your friends" David said looking at his wife her also gave her approval

"Thank you!" Emma exclaimed and wrapped her arms around her parents

"But Emma, we want to know who you are with and what you are up to" Snow added as Emma made her way back toward the door

"It's me and Neal and Killian and just in town love you!" She quickly riddled off as she made her way out the door.

David wrapped his arm around Snow. "I really hate that she felt she had to lie to us"

"You know that means she's up to something"

"Oh I know, I'm sending a text to Gram now to find them and see what they are really up to" He said pulling out his phone

"Thank you" Snow said standing on her tip toes and placing a kiss on his cheek.

OUAT

Emma finally felt free after weeks of her parents wanting her to always be with them. She knew it was there way of trying to make her feel loved but it was starting to make her feel smothered.

She made her way down to the docs where Killian had asked her to meet. She knew her parents weren't going to like her and Killian spending time alone so that's why she had to add Neal's name hoping against hope that it didn't come back to bite her.

As she made her way to where Killian was she noticed he was not standing on the doc but on a boat.

"Okay. You do remember my dads a cop right?"

"Hye las. I promise that I am barrowing it with full permission of her owner" Killian said blushing a bit

"Okay good!" Emma said as she hopped aboard. "So where are we going?"

"That's my surprise for you to find out. Now, let's make sure you return home" He said handing her a bright orange life vest.

"Gross…I hate the color orange" She said as she reluctantly put it on.

"It's not about the color las, it's about saving your life if need be" He replied coming over and placing a kiss on her cheek causing Emma's face to instantly turn a bright shade of red.

"If you say so" She replied shyly before clearing her throat and attempting to move past her embarrassment "Now, let's get out of here before my dad or someone else finds us"

"As you wish" Killian said before going to work getting the boat ready to cast off. It was only a few minutes and the doc started to fade into the distance

OUAT

Gram started walking up and down Main Street to try and find Emma and the boys but was having no luck. He finally decided to stop into Gold's shop. He never liked going into the Pawn Shop but he also didn't want to let David down.

"Well hello Deputy" Gold said as soon as he heard the bell ring

"I'm not here to see you" Gram replied gruffly

"Well then why are you here?" Gold snapped back

"I'm looking for Emma and she said she was going to be with Neal. Have they been here?"

"Sorry to disappoint you deputy but Neal has been here all day"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Dad" Neal said as he came out from the back room. "Hey Gram"

"Any other questions deputy?"

"What's going on?" Neal asked confused

"Have you seen Emma?" Gram said looking only at Neal

"No, she said she had to help her parents out today so she couldn't hang out. Why? Is she okay?"

"I'm sure she is kid I just need to find her"

"Let me help"

"Neal the best way you can help me is to try and get in contact with Emma and let me know if she responds okay?"

"Are you sure there's nothing else I can do?"

"You heard the deputy Neal. Besides you have chores that need to be completed" Gold stepped in. He didn't necessarily like the deputy but he also didn't want his son to be put in danger.

"Thank you" Gram said nodding at Gold "I'd better get going"

As he stepped out onto the side walk he pulled out his phone and dialed David's number.

OUAT

"Okay, thanks Gram" David said before handing up the phone

"David?" Snow said a bit worried

"I've gotta go. Everything is fine, Gram just needs some help at the station okay?" David said pulling her close and kissing the top of her head.

"David what aren't you telling me" She said crossing her arms across her chest. She knew him well enough to tell when he was trying to avoid telling her something.

"Snow…"

"David if this involves our daughter I have the right to know"

David began to rub the back of his neck. He didn't want Snow to panic but he also knew that she was right and that keeping things about Emma from her would only come back to bite him later.

"Okay Snow I'm going to tell you but I need you to keep calm. Gram called because he can't locate Emma and he also found out that she lied to Neal and told him that she couldn't hang out with him today which means she has to be with Killian. We're going to go find her and I'm sure she is not in any danger but obviously we need to know where she is and I'm going to go help Gram find her okay?"

"That girl…why does she do this to us?!" Snow said in frustration

"I know, and we will deal with her as soon as I bring her home okay?" He said wrapping her in his arms. He wanted to be there for Snow but his own panic was starting to set it and he wanted to find Emma.

"Okay, go and bring our girl home safe"

"I will" David said as he grabbed his coat and headed out the door.

"Neal if you ever try and pull a fast one on us I will ground you forever and you and your sister and live out the rest of your days in this loft okay? I think that's best. I can always know where you are" Snow said in a baby voice to Neal. She knew David would bring Emma home safe but it didn't make her any less worried for what her daughter may be up to.


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56**

 **Thanks so much for all the positive reviews! It means so much! Let's fine out what Killian and Emma are up to on that boat of theirs.**

* * *

Emma looked out over the water and started to realize why Killian loved being out on the water. The feeling of being able to go wherever you want and having nothing that stands in your way and no one to answer to made her feel that she may never want to return home.

"Love, are you okay?" Killian said becoming a little concerned with Emma's silence.

"Oh, yea. This is just...I can see why you love being out here...it's so free"

"Aye, it is wonderful. It also gives us some time to be just the two of us without having to worry about someone stepping in on us" he said coming over and sitting next to her

Emma's heart was beating out of her chest. She had never told anyone but she had never been kissed. She was so afraid that she was going to be bad at it that she immediately stood up and walked toward the side of the boat. "So where are you taking me?" she said flirtatiously

Killian gave her a puzzled look. He didn't understand why she was being so evasive but decided that he would play along for now. "Well you always talk about missing the big city so I figured we would go to Boston."

Emma's jaw dropped. She had been missing living in Boston ever since she had moved to Storybrooke to live with David and the fact that Killian wanted to take her there meant everything to her. She threw her arms around him and allowed a few tears to escape down her cheeks.

"Thank you Killian" She managed to get out

"I would do anything for you love. Now, we're almost there so I'm going to check on our coordinates to make sure we are still on track" and with that Killian went back to the helm of the boat leaving Emma to compose herself. He knew she didn't like being vulnerable so he wanted to give her her space.

Emma couldn't stop smiling. She was going to get to show Killian all of her favorite places in Boston that she had been talking about since she arrived. This was going to be a good day.

OUAT

Gram and David made their way down to the docs knowing that if they couldn't find the duo in town that this would be the only other place that they would be. Unfortunately there was no sign of the two so they went and checked in with the Harbor patrol to see if they knew of the two teen's whereabouts.

"Well hello sharif, deputy. It's not often I see you two down here. Anything I can do to help?"

"Hi Harold, nice to see you too. I'm actually looking for my daughter and her friend Killian. You haven't seen them here have you?"

"Oh the one handed fellow? Yea I saw him. He asked if I could barrow a boat and I let him barrow mine. He said he just wanted to take a little ride with his friend who would be coming late."

"That friend would be my daughter...Thanks Harold" David said turning around before he let his anger out on the poor man. He knew that Harold didn't know any better but he also felt that him allowing a teenager to take off in his boat was a huge lapse in judgement.

"David what do you want to do?" Gram said pulling him away from his thoughts

"We need to find a boat and go out there and find them. I don't like the idea of my daughter alone with that pirate much less on a boat where they could be who knows where!" David said as his anger came to a head

"David, we're going to find them" Gram reassured him. He knew he was going to have to try and keep David calm through this in order to ensure that they found Emma.

"I better call my wife. In the mean time see if there are any charter boats or something that will either take us out or let us barrow their ship to find them" David said walking away for privacy.

"Hey Snow"

 _"Charming? What's wrong? What did you find out?"_ Snow said as she began to panic. She could tell by his tone that whatever he was about to tell her was not good

"Well we found out where she went but we still don't know where she is"

 _"Charming I don't understand. If you know where she went then how do you not know where she is?"_

 _"_ She went out on a boat with Killian. Harold let him barrow his boat so we are trying to get a vessel of our own and go out and look for them"

 _"SHE DID WHAT?!"_

 _"_ I know, I'm not happy with her _AT ALL_ right now but Gram and I will find them and bring them home safe, I promise. I'll let you know once we find them."

 _"Be careful Charming"_

"I will, I love you"

" _I love you too"_

And with that Charming headed back to where Gram had been able to get a vessel for them

OUAT

"Come on!" Emma said taking Killian's hand and dragging him through the streets of Boston

"Slow down Love. How do you even know where you are going?" Killian said feeling overwhelmed by the tall buildings and the sea of people

"Remember I used to live here and I would always run away from my foster parents so I got really good at navigating these streets. Besides we're almost there!"

"I'm right behind you love"

OUAT

"So where do you think the two of them went?" Gram asked as they finished circling the harbor area

"Being that thy were willing to actually leave Storybrooke, they had to have gone to Boston." David hit the edge of the boat with his hand in pure frustration. "Didn't she think about the fact that we can't follow here there?! If anything happens I'm paralyzed to do anything!" He yelled.

"David I"m so sorry" Gram said. He really didn't know what else to say at this point. He knew David was upset but he also knew that, at this point, they had exhausted all their options.

At that time David finally pulled out his phone and dialed Emma's number. He had originally wanted to catch her in the act but this was his last resort and he needed to know where she was.

OUAT

"So you have to agree, this is the best pizza you've ever had right?" Emma said as she took another bite of the pizza. She loved Grannies food but there was just something about Jo's Pizza that couldn't compare.

"Aye. This is quite good" He was so amused at Emma's enthusiasm for a particular food. "So what do you plan to show me next?"

At that moment Emma's phone started to ring. "Crap"

"What is it love?"

"My dad...I really don't want to answer this"

"I'm confused. Why would your father be calling?"

"I told him I was spending the day with you and Neal. I didn't tell him that I was going to be on a boat much less that I was going to end up taking a day trip to Boston!"

"I'm sorry Emma. I didn't realize..."

"No. No Killain, it's not your fault. I was the one who lied to him" Suddenly the phone stopped ringing "That's not good" Then the phone let out a short ring to let her know she had a voice mail.

"What does that mean?"

"It means he left a message for me" she said as the color ran out of her face. She had done a lot of stupid things but this was probably the dumbest. She opened up her phone and found the voice mail. She decided she should probably not put the phone on speaker so she put it to her ear.

" _Emma Ruth Nolan I'm going to call you back in exactly 5 minutes and you better pick up that phone. I know you are in Boston and by the time I call you back you and Killian better be on your way back to Storybrooke or else I'm sending Regina after you. I know I don't have to tell you that you are in huge trouble when you get back here...Emma...Please Stay safe...I love you"_

 _"_ Well at least the message ended well. We have to go like right now" Emma said throwing a twenty dollar bill on the table before throwing her purse back over her shoulder

"I'm sorry love. I didn't mean to get you in trouble" Killian said following her out of the restaurant

"It's not your fault." She said turning around to face him "I knew that going to Boston was taking a risk but I wouldn't have traded this day for anything" The stood there for a moment and then she kissed him. She felt a warm sensation run through her as their lips made contact. Killian pulled her close and kissed her back right there outside the small pizza restaurant and he wouldn't have wanted it any other way. After a few moments Emma felt her phone vibrate causing her to pull away from Killian. Her father's words from his voice mail ran through her head and she knew she couldn't ignore his call again.

"Here goes nothing. Hey Dad"

 _"Emma Ruth you better be on your way back to Storybrooke"_

 _"_ Yes Sir, we are on our way back"

 _"Emma what in the heck were you thinking?!"_

 _"_ I'm sorry..."

" _NO! Emma 'Sorry' isn't going to cut it this time. Where are you right now?"_

Emma took a deep breath knowing that her dad wasn't going to like her answer "Boston"

 _"EMMA! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING GOING TO BOSTON!?"_ He knew she had probably gone to Boston but he was really hoping that he was wrong. To find out he wasn't made his blood run cold.

"Dad.."

" _Emma, get back here ASAP. I love you"_ and he hung up.

"I'm dead" Emma said hanging up the phone.

OUAT

"I'm going to lock her in her room for the next ten years when she get's back here" Charming said as soon as he hung up. "I was really hoping that I was wrong but she did exactly what I thought she did and she went to Boston with that Pirate!"

"David let's go back to port them and wait for them to get back. When they do I'll take Killian back to Grannies so then you can deal with Emma"

"I have to call Snow" David said ignoring his partner. "Hey Snow, I found her and that stupid Pirate took her to Boston"

 _"HE WHAT?! How did you find them?"_

"Well I couldn't find them in town so I called her and she told me. I told her that she has to call me as soon as they are back on the boat and headed toward Storybrooke"

 _"Charming, what was she thinking? We can't get to her outside of Storybrooke"_

"I know and that is the conversation we will be having when I bring her home."

" _Charming we have to keep a closer eye on her"_

"I agree. I'm going to talk to Lancelot and see if he would be willing to be her bodyguard"

 _"I think that's the best thing for her. We can't keep doing this with her"_

"I know Snow." He heard a beep on his phone "It's Emma, I'll call you back"

 _"Okay, I love you"_

"I love you too" He then switched over to Emma "Where are you?"

 _"We're back on the boat headed toward Storybrooke. Dad..."_

"Emma I do not want to talk about this right now. Get yourself back here as fast as you can and we will talk about this as a family."

 _"I'm Sorry"_ Emma sounded like she was on the verge of tears

"Thank you...Now, I love you"

 _"I love you too"_


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57**

 **Glad you all are liking the story. I had a lot of fun with the last chapter having Emma run off and show Killian her past life. Now it's time for Emma to face the music and get back to Storybrooke and a very irate David.**

* * *

David was standing at the docs impatiently checking his phone every few seconds. Unlike a car, a boat can't propel it's self so he had no idea how long it would take them to get back to Storybrooke from Boston. What he did know is that his patience was wearing very thin and he just wanted Emma back on solid ground where he knew she was safe.

This was a new level of pushing boundaries for Emma. Sure she had snuck out and was seeing a boy who was older than her but leaving Storybrooke where they couldn't get to her was taking it another step that Charming was not ready for. Any other time she had done something he was able to physically go after her or whoever was hurting her but in this moment he felt completely paralyzed.

He and Graham waited two hours before they finally saw Killian's boat pulling up to the doc. Charming wasted no time helping the pair to pull the boat in and then quickly boarding the vessel to retrieve his daughter.

"Emma let's go" David said taking a firm but gentle grip on Emma's arm

"Dad..."

"I'm not talking about this until we are with your mother. Now let's go" He said cutting her off

Emma gave a sorry look back to Killian before her father placed his hands on her shoulders forcing her to look move with him off the boat. As soon as the pair started toward David's truck, Graham made his way onto the boat to confront the pirate.

"Alright Killian, it's time for you to get back to your room at Grannies"

"You're here to ensure I don't follow the lass then?" Killian said with a raised eyebrow.

"That I am. Let's go" he said motioning for the Pirate to start walking toward the edge of the boat with Killian reluctantly following but not without a roll of his eyes and a heavy sigh.

OUAT

"Dad..." Emma said trying to break the silence

"Emma what did I say?" David snapped a bit. He was doing everything in his power to keep his temper under control but Emma continuing to push to try and talk to him was making it very difficult.

When it all came down to it, David wasn't mad at Emma, he was reacting our of his own fear for her. He couldn't let himself think about how he would have reacted if he lost her, again. He and Snow felt like they had had their hearts ripped out of their chest when they had to put her into that wardrobe and they couldn't survive that feeling again.

Thankfully the drive from the docs to the loft wasn't too long and he was able to contain himself. He threw the truck into park before simply saying "Out" to Emma. She quickly obeyed and made her way to the front of the truck where her dad was waiting for her and guided her inside.

As they were coming to the landing the door flew open and Snow stood there with Neal in her arms. "EMMA!" She said before moving quickly to wrap Emma in her arms while Neal started squirming to go to David. He quickly scooped up his son and walking into the loft and waited for his wife and Emma.

"Emma Ruth what in the world were you thinking?" She said pulling Emma away and holding her by her shoulders.

"I'm so sorry Mom"

"I hope so but you are going to have to show us that we can trust you again because frankly I don't trust you as far as I can throw you right now" Snow said seriously. She really wanted to push home how much worry and concern that she caused by pulling this little stunt.

"I know mom. I know I have really messed up" Emma said looking at the floor

Snow, being able to read her daughter realized that Emma was not just saying that she messed up in this situation but that she herself was a mistake. Snow gently placed her finger tips under Emma's chin and made her make eye contact with her. "Listen here. Just because you made a mistake does not me that you are a mistake. Do you understand"

Emma could no longer hold back the tears that had been building up behind her eyes since she had pulled into the docs. She quickly wrapped her arms around Snow and began to cry. Snow simply wrapped her arms around Emma and let her get out the emotions that had been building up.

After a few minutes Snow pat Emma on the back and pulled away a bit so she could hold her face in her hands. "Alright Emma, it's time for us to go talk about this, as a family. Okay?"

Emma simply nodded and allowed Snow to guide her inside where they found David on the floor with Neal playing with Neal's trucks and crashing them into one another.

"Get it, get it, BOOM! Way to go dude!" Charming cooed at his son. It always gave Snow mixed emotions seeing her husband playing with Neal. She loved how natural he was with both of their children, but she also knew that David had always wanted to have these types of moments with Emma.

David looked up and Snow gave him a knowing look. He immediately scooped Neal up into his arms and walked toward Snow and Emma. "Alright buddy it's time for you to go to bed" he cooed at Neal before handing him to Snow.

"Hey buddy! You like playing with Daddy don't you?" Snow continued on where David had left off.

Emma stood staring at the ground. She knew her and her mom had just had a conversation about how special she was but watching her mother and father with her brother brought all the feelings flooding in back like a tsunami.

"Hey Em" David said wrapping his arm around Emma and breaking her out of her own thoughts. Emma looked up at her dad for a brief second before bringing her eyes back to the floor. "Come on over here" he said gently guiding her over to the couch. Emma followed obediently but still stayed silent.

David, having had some time to cool off, felt horrible for the way he had acted when he had seen Emma at the docs. He was the adult and he should have handled this situation a bit better. He felt like a failure as a parent.

"Em, I need to apologize to you"

Emma snapped up and look at her father in utter confusion. "What?..."

"Just here me out. I should never have reacted like I did. I'll admit I was pretty mad when I found out what you did but that doesn't change the fact that, in this situation, I should have been the adult and kept my cool."

"No dad.."

"I'm not done Emma. I shouldn't have snapped at you. Now this is not an excuse by any means but the reason I reacted so harshly is because I was petrified."

"I don't understand"

"Emma, when your mother and I had to give you up it ripped our hearts out. We never wanted to have to do that to you. When I heard you were in Boston where there was no way for me to get to you if anything happened...I've never been so scared in my life"

"Me either" came Snow's voice. She had entered from she and Charming's bedroom and had overheard their conversation enough to understand what Charming was trying to get at. She took a seat on the other side of Emma and picked up where her husband had left off.

"You mean the world to us Emma. If anything happened to you, I don't know if we would be able to move on. Our job is to protect you and when we fail to do that, we can react...well we can react very differently than we should have" She looked up and gave Charming a look letting him know it was his time again to continue.

"Emma I love you so much and I am always going to do everything in my power to protect you in any way that I can. When you make that difficult for me, I can get frustrated because it goes against everything that I want for you. Does that make sense?" David said not knowing how else to say how he was feeling.

Emma simply nodded her head in understanding. She had been living with David and Snow for a while now but it was still taking a long time for her to get used to someone who not only cared about her but actually was worried and concerned when she did something foolish. She had never had that before.

"Emma your father and I will talk about what your punishment is and let you know soon but we are going to be having lancelot be your body guard from here on our until we can trust you to make good decisions on your own, do you understand?" Snow said placing a comforting hand on Emma's shoulder.

Emma simply nodded knowing that no amount of arguing would change her parents mind. She also knew that at this point trying to argue would only make whatever punishment they came up with that much worse.

"Why don't you go up and get ready for bed kiddo. Your mom and I will be up shortly" David said knowing that Emma would need a few minutes to process and compose herself before they all went to bed.

Emma silently got up and headed upstairs to get ready for bed.

"Snow I..." But he was interrupted by Snow placing a finger on his lips and moving it then to his cheeks.

"I was livid when I found out what she did. It was reckless and irresponsible. We have every right to be worried and angry that she would put herself, put us, in that place where we are helpless to change the circumstances. All we can do now is show her how much we love her but also let her know where her boundaries are and that this type of behavior is not acceptable"

"She really scared me this time. I was afraid that she wasn't coming back...that..." He couldn't finish his sentence

"I know Charming. But she did come back and now we have another chance to make sure she is safe and loved and we are going to take full advantage of this chance."

"I love you you know" Charming said taking her face in his hands.

"I love you too Charming"

The pair shared a passionate kiss before hearing the bathroom door open. They pulled apart and shared a smile

"Time to go tuck our baby in" Snow said. David took a hold of her hand and the two walked up the stairs to Emma's room with a renewed determination to show their daughter how much she was loved and desired by her family.

OUAT

Emma locked the door to the bathroom and turned on the water before letting the tears flow down her face. The lover her parents had for her was so overwhelming she didn't even know how to describe how she was feeling. She hated herself for having disappointed them. She never would have gone along with Killian's plan had she known how much it would hurt her parents. She had never had to worry about how her actions effected others because she knew no matter how good or bad she was, every family would eventually give her back so there was no point in caring what they would think.

She knew her parents would be coming up to her room soon so she quickly finished washing her face and brushing her teeth so she could go to her room and change into her pajamas before her parents got to her room. She was now more determined than ever to impress her parents and show them that they could trust her and that she really did appreciate everything that they have done for her.

She hopped into her bed as she heard her parents foot steps coming up the stairs and she quickly got under the covers and laid down.

"Hey kiddo, you all set for bed?" David said in a soft tone. He really wanted to show her that he was no longer upset with her

"Yea" Emma said in a meek voice. It was the most she had said to either of her parents since she got home

"Good" David replied before starting to tuck her in. Normally Emma would make a smart alack remark or roll her eyes at the gesture but she really was trying to control herself.

"You warm enough sweetheart?" Snow said sitting on the edge of the bed and placing a comforting hand on her leg. Emma simply nodded. "Good! Now you sleep well and we will talk more tomorrow once we have all had some time to rest"

"We love you so much Em. We just want to make sure that you are always safe. Can you help us with that?" David said placing a hand on her cheek.

"Yea, I can do that" Emma said with a small smile.

"Thanks Kiddo. You have a good night's sleep" David replied before giving Emma a kiss on the forehead and stepping aside to let Snow say good night.

"I love you Emma" Snow said before following suite and giving Emma a kiss on the forehead

"I love you too...both of you" Emma said shyly.

"Good night Em" David said with a comforting smile before shutting the door

"You're a good dad" Snow said looking up at her husband while keeping her arms wrapped around his waist

"And you are an excellent mother" David said looking down at his wife.

They shared one more kiss before taking themselves to bed after a very long day.


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58**

Happy Fall Everyone! I can't believe how fast this summer has flow by! I now have more time to write so I hope to be updating more regularly but we will see how I do with that :P

Here is another installment of our Emma and Family. Time too see how she handles her new addition of Lancelot and what trouble she can manage to get herself in.

As always I appreciate your reviews and feedback and look forward to seeing what you guys think! Enjoy!

* * *

Charming had a hard time sleeping. Afraid that Emma had decided to try and leave during the night, every little noise caused him to wake. Finally around 3am he made his way up to Emma's room. He was relieved when he found her sound asleep. She always looked so young when she was sleeping and Charming thought that it must be how she looked growing up and it made his heart ache for the fact that he had missed those years.

In this state she was so innocent, so vulnerable. It only deepened his desire to protect her and keep her safe even more.

"I will always protect you" he whispered as he lightly stroked her hair as not to wake her. As he stood there his own lack of sleep started to catch up to him. Content with seeing Emma safe in her bed he retreated from her room and headed back to bed.

Snow stirred as David got back into bed

"David?"

"I'm sorry Snow, I didn't mean to wake you"

"It's fine. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is just fine" He said cupping her face with his hand. She looked so beautiful and he loved her so much already, but even more for giving him his children that he was at a loss for words.

"You were checking on Emma weren't you?" She said placing her hand over his

"How did you know?"

"Because I know you Charming, and I have been waking up at every little noise as well"

David gave her a guilty look but couldn't lie to his Snow, she knew him better than he knew himself

"So how is she?" Snow said with a smile

"She's sleeping soundly. She looks so young when she sleeps. I couldn't live with myself if something else happened to her" David said as a bit of guilt washed over his face.

"Charming, we are doing the best that we can with what we have. She is our daughter after all. Her genetics make it so she can't help but get herself into trouble"

"If there is one thing I wished I hadn't passed on to her it would be that" David said with a chuckle "I love that she is adventurous but I wish that, unlike us, she put her own safety first"

"We don't exactly set the best example of that" Snow said with her own smile thinking about the countless times that she and Charming had both risked their lives for things they felt were worthy causes or for the sake of adventure.

"There is obviously no doubt that she's out daughter"

"Alright Charming, now that we know Emma is safe up stairs we should grab some shut eye before Neal wakes up" Snow said realizing how tired she was going to be if she didn't get some sleep.

"Agreed. Goodnight Snow, I love you" he said giving her a quick kiss

"I love you too Charming"

OUAT

Emma woke up and looked around her room willing herself to wake up but being defeated by the fact that he bed was just too comfortable to remove herself from. She then grabbed her phone and saw she had a message from Killian.

 _"Sorry about yesterday love, I didn't mean to get you into trouble. May I see you today?"_

The message made Emma smile. Killian really had a genuine side to him that her father just couldn't see. He never would have taken her out of Storybrooke if he thought that he was going to get her into trouble, he simply wanted to make her happy which meant the world to Emma. No one besides her parents had ever gone out of their way to make her happy before and it was still something that she was getting used to.

She quickly shot Killian back a text apologizing for not letting him know what had happened but that she was not in too much trouble but probably would not be able to see him for a while if her father had any say in it. She then remembered what her parents had said the night before about Lancelot and she groaned out loud. She was not one to like following the rules in general but having someone there to enforce them was only going to want to make her buck the system more. She was going to have to find a way to shake him at some point so that she could be alone, even if just for a little bit.

She remembered reading her parents story and the part about her mother being a bandit for a while and living in the woods and she figured that some of that must have been passed on to her because she always felt this need to be out in the woods alone for period of time just to clear her head and recenter herself. Her only problem was she had not inherited her parents sense of direction and, although she found them peaceful, she also found the woods to be a source of many a failed directional endeavor.

Shortly after this Emma heard some noise down stairs and knew it was only a matter of time before her parents would be coming up stairs to wake her so she decided it would be better to get herself up and moving. She then headed for the bathroom to get ready for the day

OUAT

Charmin finished putting the last bit of food on a plate before carrying it to the table. He was about to head up stairs when he heard the door opened and Emma appear at the top of the stairs.

"Good morning Princess"

"ugg. Mornings are never good"

"I made bacon" David replied hoping to lighten her mood

"That takes the edge off i guess" Emma said sulking toward the table.

Charming grabbed the two cocoa's and the cup of coffee for himself and brought them to the table so he could eat with his family

"Where's mom?" Emma said looking around a bit

"I'm right here. Sorry I had to change Neal's diapper" she said in a high pitched voice as she tickled Neal's stomach. "How did you sleep honey?"

"Fine" Emma said taking a bit bite of her scrambled eggs

Snow and Charming shared a silent conversation about how Emma had definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

"Can I have coffee?" Emma said looking down at her plate

"Emma I think you are still a bit young for coffee" Snow said looking at Charming for support

"I'm 16, plenty of people my age drink coffee" Emma said with a bit of attitude

Charming looked at Snow and gave her a look that said he thought it might be worth a shot to better her mood and may be a battle they don't need to fight right now.

"Alright Emma, one cup" Snow said giving Charming one last look to let him know she was not necessarily sure about this but she was trusting him

"Thank you" Emma said moving toward the kitchen

Snow walked over to where Charming continued enjoying his breakfast

"I don't know if this is such a good idea"

"Why? She drinks caffeinated pop, maybe the coffee with make her be in a better mood"

"But should we let her get started drinking coffee at such a young age?"

"Like she said, she's 16, a lot of teenagers are drinking coffee and if we can give her this one thing then let's not try and fight that battle" He said placing his arm around her waist

"Alright"

"Now, why don't you hand me our little prince and eat your breakfast before it gets any colder" David said taking Neal from her arms

Emma walked over with a small smile on her face as she sipped her coffee with pure enjoyment

"Feeling better?" David asked sarcastically to Emma

Emma shot him a glare but then gave him a small smile "Yes"

"Well good. Now both my babies are Happy" He said tickling Neal

Neal's giggle caused everyone in the charming family to smile slightly

"I'm not a baby by the way" Emma said taking another sip of her coffee

"You will always be my baby" David said still cooing at Neal and not even looking at Emma who was shooting him a glare

"By the way Emma, Lancelot will be here in an hour to take you to school so you need to be ready" Snow said collecting their plates

"about that" Emma said a bit hesitantly "I know that I'm still earning back your trust but...is a babysitter really necessary?"

"Emma we talked about this. Lancelot is not your babysitter...he's..." Charming looked to Snow for the right words

"He's more like your bodyguard" Snow swooped in "He's only there to make sure that you're safe"

"And to make sure I follow your rules" Emma added with an eye roll

"Watch the attitude Em" David jumped in "You know that we are only doing this because we love you and we need to have the pace of mind of knowing that you are safe when we aren't with you" He added reaching over and placing his hand on hers.

Emma looked between both of her parents and knew that trying to convince them other wise was not going to happen. "Alright, better go get ready then" she said getting up from the table and heading to her room

OUAT

"Charming..."

"She's going to be fine Snow. Lancelot is going to make sure that she's safe"

"But what if she tries to get away from him"

"If anyone can keep up with Emma's crazy ways it's Lancelot. He isn't going to let her try and shake him, that's why we asked him to watch her"

"Well at least we don't have to worry about Neal trying to run away" She cooed at her son as she lifted him from David's arms "I'm going to go get him ready for Granny and you should be getting ready to go to the station"

"yes ma'ma"

OUAT

Emma went up to her room and started to get ready brushing her hair and putting on a little bit of makeup before she heard a car pull up outside. She went to the window to see Lancelot getting out of the car. She knew she only had a couple of moment to get her stuff together before her parents would be calling her down to go with him to school. She was really not looking forward to having a 'bodyguard' as her mom had put it no matter what the circumstances. She knew she had broken her parents trust but she also felt that this was taking it a bit too far.

"Emma" Came the call from her dad

"I'll be right there!" She yelled back. She then grabbed her backpack and her phone off of the charger and went down stairs.

"There she is! Emma I want you to be Lancelot. Lancelot, this is my daughter Emma" He said putting his arm around his daughter. Emma was acting a bit shy which was a bit unusual for Emma but David figured that it must be Emma being a bit reluctant about the whole situation.

"It's nice to meet you Emma. As your father said, my name is Lancelot and I'm going to be spending the day with you" He said reaching his hand out to Emma.

Emma nicely shoot his hand before leaning a bit more into David. She didn't know what had come over her, but the thought of leaving with someone she didn't know was making her cling to her father.

"Lancelot can you give us a minute?" David said feeling Emma clinging to him

"Of course"

David led Emma over to the kitchen table where they could have a private moment

"Hey Em, you okay?" David said looking into her eyes

"Yea" Emma said not making eye contact

David finally placed a hand on her chin to cause her to make eye contact with him "Em"

"It's nothing"

"Emma whatever it is I want to know. There is obviously something bothering you"

"I don't know..."

"I think you do know but you don't want to tell me. Emma I can't make you tell me, but I can't help you unless I know what's going on"

Emma thought about it for a moment and then decided that her father was right

"Just...leaving with someone I don't know...It reminds me of when I had to switch foster homes...It's stupid"

"Emma you're feeling aren't stupid. I'm glad you told me and I understand how this can be hard but I want you to know that you are not leaving me or your mother, ever. You leaving with Lancelot does not mean you are going to a new house. You will be coming back here after school like usual, I promise. Okay?"

"Okay" Emma said fighting to keep the flood of tears from breaking through

"I love you Emma. I will have Lancelot stop by the station so I can see you after school okay?"

"Okay. I love you too" Emma said before wrapping her arms around David. David followed suite and firmly wrapped his arms around Emma. Part of him never wanted to let go and take her with him to work instead of making her go to school but the other part of him knew that she needed to be in school and in her normal routine even though it may be a bit difficult, for both of them.

"Alright Em, you ready to go to school?"

"Yea"

"Alright" He said wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Okay Lancelot she's already"

"I promise to take care of the princess for you sir"

"I know you will. Have a good day Emma, I love you" He said kissing the top of her head

"Love you too dad, bye"

"Emma! I'm sorry I was packing Neal's bag! Have a great day at school" Snow said swooping in and wrapping her arms around Emma

"I love you too mom, see you later"

"Goodbye your majesties" Lancelot said leading Emma out of the door

"She's going to be okay right?" Snow said wrapping her arms around David

"Yes, she's going to be just fine" David replied wrapping his arms around her. They both had their own worries but they knew that they were doing what was best for their Emma.


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59**

 **Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Life gets so busy and you blink and it's already the end of September! So crazy! Well anyway I love the comments and they really help me know where to take this story next. I hope you all are still liking so please keep commenting and sharing where you would like to see the story go!**

 **With no further delay, here is chapter 59!**

* * *

As Lancelot pulled up to the school Emma felt her heart jump into her throat. She already felt like she stuck out at school and this was only going to make that feeling worse for her having Lancelot as her shadow. On top of that she was still feeling the same fear that she always had when she left her former foster homes, even though she knew that she would be returning home to her parents at the end of the day.

"Princess?"

Emma jumped a bit at the sounds having been lost in her thoughts. "um...Yes?"

"Are you ready to go in?"

"Yea, let's get this over with" Emma said with a bit of snark. She didn't want to let Lancelot or any of her friends see her being vulnerable so she would do what she had always done, put on a tough face and make it through the day.

"Princess" Lancelot said placing his hand on her shoulder "I promise I won't embarrass you in any way. I'm simply here to make sure that you are safe"

"I get it. Can we go inside now?"

"As you wish" Lancelot said before getting out of the car and following Emma inside. He did his best to stand at a distance where he could step in if need be but enough space to help Emma feel as normal as possible. The day went on as normal with nothing exciting to report to her parents and it made Emma resent Lancelot's presence even more. She knew that she had done this to herself but she felt that her parents were over reacting a bit. However, Emma knew she had to buy her time and she would do what she had to do to regain her parents trust.

OUAT

Snow kept looking at her phone incase Lancelot or David messaged her about Emma. She knew that her worry was pointless but she just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. She didn't know what but she knew it was but it kept creeping it's way to the front of her mind and continually distracting her from the tasks at hand.

She finally gave into her worry and called David when the children were at recess.

 _"Hey Snow, is everything okay?"_

 _"_ Yeah, I was just wondering if you had heard anything from Lancelot about how Emma is doing"

Charming knew that Snow was letting her worry get the best of her. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand _"Snow..."_

"I know my worry is unwarranted but David I can't help but think that there is something wrong and we are missing it"

 _"How about this, I'll message Lancelot and ask him to call you and give you an update?"_

"I can call him David! I need you to understand what I'm saying!"

 _"Snow I do understand what you're saying but she is perfectly safe! Lancelot is not going to let anything happen to her and if anything came up that we should know about he would let us know. Snow I love you but I really think that everything is okay"_ He said hoping to deescalate the conversation

Snow knew that David was not sharing her concern and she was going to have to do this on her own so she quickly ended the conversation. "I guess you're right. I'll talk to you later. Bye" and hung up the phone.

She then quickly sent out a message to Ruby to ask her if she would stop by the school. She knew if anyone would be honest with her, it would be Ruby. She didn't understand why she was feeling how she was but she was going to chase it down to the very end.

Ruby then responded saying that she was happy to go check on Emma and also informed Snow that a couple from out of town had checked into Grannies this morning in case David wanted to follow up with them. They hadn't had any outside visitors so this was a new territory for them.

OUAT

As the school day was coming to an end, Emma was at her locker grabbing her books when Lancelot came up next to her.

"Are you ready to go Prin...Emma?"

"Yea just give me a minute" she said as she finished zipping up her bag and throwing it over her shoulder

Lancelot then placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as he led her through the crowd of students all headed to their different destinations. Emma would never admit it but it actually made her feel at peace having Lancelot near her. Weaving her way through crowds had always made her anxious but having him near here and knowing that he was able to safely guide her out to his car made her feel a lot better.

As they approached their car the crowd began to thin. Lancelot was opening the passenger door for Emma when a shout came from a few feet away "Emma!"

OUAT

Charming was a bit take aback by Snow's abrupt end to the call but knew that this was not the last he would be hearing about this conversation. He didn't necessarily understand why Snow was worrying but after that conversation she got him thinking. He looked through his messages and had nothing from Lancelot. He also knew that Snow's gut was rarely wrong.

He tried to go back to his paperwork as it was a very slow day at the office but the more he tried to push it out of his head, the more it nagged at him. Finally he decided to head over to the school.

"Hey Graham, can you hold it down here? I have a quick errand I need to run"

"Yea, everything okay?"

"Yea, everything's fine. Just need to do a little follow up"

"Alright, let me know if you need help"

"Will do"

OUAT

Lancelot quickly got Emma into the car and stood covering her from the couple that was approaching the car at a fast pace.

"Emma!" The woman said as the man reached over and took a hold of her arm to keep her from getting to close to Lancelot who was giving them a very stern look as they tried to approach the car.

"What do you to want?" Lancelot said

"We just want to see her! She's so beautiful!" The woman said as tears began to go down her cheeks

At that moment David came up in the cruiser with the lights on which caused the couple to startle. David quickly exited the car and placed himself close to the car to protect his daughter.

"Can we help you?"

"We were once this young woman's foster parents. We had recently moved to Maine and had contacted social services and found out that Emma was also in Maine and my wife has been determined to find her." The man explained.

"Well I think that it would be best to have you two follow me back to the station and we can discuss this matter away from the minor." David was very careful not to say Emma's name or his relationship to her incase it set the couple off.

The man nodded and guided his wife back to where their car was. David took this moment to quickly talk to Emma.

"Hey Kiddo"

"Daddy who are those people?"

"I don't know but I'm going to find out. Lancelot is going to take you home and I need you to stay there okay?"

Emma simply nodded and David gave her a quick kiss on the head before shutting the door

"I'll get back to you as soon as I have information"

"Take your time, I will make sure the princess is safe"

David quickly thanked him and got in the cruiser as the couple pulled up behind him and began to lead them off to the station. Lancelot waited until they were out of the parking lot before getting in the car incase the couple tried anything. He then got in the car and quickly took off for the loft where he could keep Emma safe from whoever these unwelcomed visitors were.

OUAT

Ruby had watched the entire interaction with the strangers from afar and immediately headed over to the elementary school to inform Snow. As she approached the building the children were milling about but she quickly found her way to Snow's classroom where she found Snow on the phone with whom she could only assume was David.

"Okay I'll head home right away and talk to her" Snow said before ending the call

"Was that David?" Ruby said approaching her friend who looked more worried then she had ever seen her

"Yes, I'm going to go pick up Neal from Grannies and then go home and be with Emma"

"I'll go with you. I watched the whole situation happen. This couple just ran toward Emma with the wife yelling her name. If Lancelot hadn't been there I'm afraid that they would have tried to run off with Emma, or at least the wife would have. She was determined to get to Emma, but thankfully her husband was smart enough to hold her back when Lancelot gave them a look that could kill"

"Well it tells me we made the right decision having him watch her but I just wish we could have a brief stint of peace. First we were worried about Regina and George but now we have to worry about the outside world?" Snow said exasperated.

"We will take care of this Snow. You and David have the whole town behind you and we won't let anything happen to Emma or Neal"

"Thank you Ruby!" Snow said wrapping her arms around her friend.

"I will go straight to the Loft and talk to Emma. I think having her aunt Ruby around will help" She said with a smirk.

"Sounds good" Snow said grabbing her bag "I'll see you in a few"

OUAT

As they pulled up to the station, David quickly got out of the cruiser and made sure to escort the couple inside. He wasn't going to give them the opportunity to get away from him and try and find Emma. Once they were inside David showed them into his office and shut the door.

"So what made you think it would be appropriate to ambush a minor at her school and try and make contact with her?" David said bluntly. He was not at all impressed with the conduct of the couple, especially when it came to the fact that Emma wasn't just any foster child, but he is child.

"We are very sorry sharif. My wife and I were not thinking straight"

"I'd have to agree. You said you were her foster parents?" David said through gritted teeth.

"That is correct. Emma came to live with us when she was a baby until she was two"

"Well being that you were foster parents I believe you know the proper channels to go through if you want to get in contact with a foster child"

"We do, we do" the wife finally spoke up "But We really wanted to see Emma and they told us that she had been adopted and that we couldn't see her and I just couldn't handle that. We had wanted her so badly" she ended her sentence as she broke down into tears

David took a deep breath and contemplated his next words carefully. He didn't understand how they could give up Emma, much less say that they wanted her after that. He also debated wither or not to tell this couple that Emma was actually his daughter.

"Alright, we definitely need to get to the bottom of this but let's start by finding out your names and where you're from."

"We are Don and Susan Swan and we are originally from Boston Massachusetts but in the last few years we moved to Maine to be closer to family" Don explained

"How did you find out that Emma was here in Maine if you gave her up back in Boston, much less 14 years after you decided to no longer be her foster parents?" David grilled them

"We only gave up Emma when we found out that we were going to have a child of our own" Susan barely got out

"That seems like a cop out to me" David said condescendingly

"We understand how you would feel that way but there is more to it" Don explained "My wife, Susa, she got very very ill and we couldn't take care of Emma the way that she deserved. Then we lost our baby and things were just never the same and it took us a long time to heal"

"But it still doesn't explain why you would try and find Emma 14 years later not even knowing if she was adopted or not? It doesn't seem like you had Emma's best intentions in mind. Didn't you even think about the fact that having her former foster parents come back into her life may disrupt her current situation?" David said finally letting his anger come out a bit.

"We really weren't looking to hurt Emma, we just wanted to see her" Susan said

"Well I think that it would be best for you both to leave Storybrooke and not come back. Emma has done a great job of finally getting settled in here and she doesn't need someone from her past coming in and disrupting that."

"I'm sorry sharif, I understand what you're saying but, we aren't leaving until we see Emma" Susan said with determination in both her eyes and her voice

David knew that he was going to have to find some reason to get them to leave town, but without having Emma get hurt. But how?


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60**

 **Sorry it's been so long since I've update. Life has been crazy lately and currently I'm nursing a nasty case of pink eye in both eyes which leaves me with extra time to write! :)**

 **Thank you all for the great reviews! I am so happy you are all liking the twist of Emma's foster parents coming into town. I think it would be an interesting thing for the real show to explore some time, have David and Snow go with Emma to the outside world and run into her old foster parents.**

 **Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Emma's head was spinning. How did this happen? She hadn't seen the Swan's since the day that they gave her back at the social services offices. She didn't remember them much but she could still remember that day as if it had happened moments ago. The Swan's were the only people she had ever known and it rocked her world when the realization hit her at a young age that they were never coming back and the new family, the Nelson's, that she was placed with was her new family.

As soon as they had arrived home Emma immediately went up to her room to try and think through things. How could they be here? WHY where they here? What did they want with her? How would her parents react? She was pacing the floor so much she was sure there would be a small indent by the time her parents showed up at the house. Emma was so concentrated on trying to organize her own thoughts that she didn't even notice that her mother had walked into the room.

"Emma?" Snow said placing a hand on Emma's shoulder causing Emma to jump slightly at the light touch as she realized who the woman standing in front of her way. She immediately flung herself into her mother's arms as the tears came in uncontrollable sobs.

"Mom...I...Sorry...I..." Emma was able to choke out between the sobbing.

"Emma It's okay honey. None of this is your fault. We are going to find out what is going on and why those people are here. But most importantly we are going to make sure that you are safe" She then took Emma's face into her hand and held it back slightly as to make eye contact "Do you understand me?"

Emma simply shook her head yes and Snow brought her back into her embrace. Emma cried for a few more minutes but once the sobbing subsided and Emma was able to catch her breath Snow suggested that they go down stairs and get some Hot Chocolate and wait for David to come home which Emma readily agreed to.

OUAT

As David parked he quickly got out of his car to make sure that he was able to watch the couple's every move. He was just glad that he didn't have Snow or Emma with him because he was ready to give these two a piece of his mind. How dare they come into their town and start talking about how they are _going_ to see Emma...like they had a right to her. She was His daughter and he wasn't going to let some couple who gave her up 13 years ago have any contact with her and bring up that old pain and hurt for absolutely no reason.

He walked up to the door and ushered the couple into the station and then silently motioned for them to enter into his office where they could have some privacy for a moment while he talked to Graham.

"Who are these two?" Graham asked confused. He had never seen the couple around town and the sight of them didn't leave a good feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"They are Emma's former foster parents, the Swan's" David hissed. He was so furious at the couple he could barely see straight

"Oh...how?" Graham said not really knowing how to start that conversation

"That's what we need to find out. I need you to gather the dwarfs and head out to the town line. We can't have random strangers coming in and out of Storybrooke or things could get a lot worse, for everyone" David said very serious. He couldn't imagine how the outside world would react if they found out that all of them were truly their story book characters come to life

"Got it, I'll head out now. Unless..."

"No I can handle them. Trust me, they won't be in town much longer. Just let me know if you find anything out"

"Will do" and with that Graham grabbed his coat and was off to the town line.

David took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. He knew that he couldn't go into that room without calming himself down or he would literally rip the couple to pieces. He couldn't get the look on Emma's face out of his head. She looked so confused and hurt and scared by the couple and he hated that someone would make her feel that way. He finally took one more deep breath before he turned around and entered the office where the couple sat.

OUAT

Once Snow had Emma comfortable on the couch watching a movie, she allowed Red to take her place next to Emma as she briefly excused herself to talk to Lancelot.

"So how did this all happen?" Snow said talking in a very low voice in order to try and keep Emma from overhearing their conversation. The last thing she wanted was to reopen that wound more than she had to as Emma had just calmed down.

"I was opening the door for Emma when the couple started running toward the car yelling her name. I quickly got her inside and shut the door before placing myself between her and the couple. The woman was acting very strange and crying while trying to reach out and touch the car. Her husband was smart enough to hold her back as I was not going to allow her to get any closer. That is when The Prince showed up and he ushered them away"

"Well I'm glad that you were there. I can't imagine what would have happened if Emma had been alone when all of this happened"

"She will never be alone Snow, I will watch over her for as long as your and the Prince will have me"

"I, we really do appreciate it Lancelot. It gives me a lot of peace knowing that Emma isn't alone and that you are able to step in in our absence" Snow then longly looked over at Emma who had cuddled up next to her Aunt Red who was also her God mother. Snow was so grateful that she and Charming had so many people in their life who loved and cared for Emma as much as themselves.

"It is my pleasure Princess Snow. Do you wish for me to stay here until the Prince returns?"

"Oh, no that's not necessary, thank you so much! You've done enough already" Snow said giving Lancelot a sincere smile

"I will take my leave then and I will return in the morning to escort the young princess to school"

"Thank you so much, we will see you then" Snow said as she saw him out. She then turned around and saw that Emma's eyes were starting to droop and could tell that today's activities had taken a lot out of her but she also knew that Emma needed the closeness of her family right now. She then walked over and sat on the other side of Emma. Emma then responded by cuddling up to her mother. Snow relaxed knowing that everything was going to be okay.

OUAT

"Alright, let's get down to business. How did you find Emma in this town? It's not like we are on any maps" David said bluntly as he placed his hands on his hips and squared off against the couple who sat across from him

"We told you, we have friends who helped up to find Emma." Mr. Swan replied sheepishly

"Why now? Why not come and find her even 5 years ago? Why 13 years later did you think it was a good idea to find her, especially after you found out she was already adopted?" David said using every ounce of self-control he had to not completely snap at the couple

"We loved Emma like our own child. We didn't have a choice back then but we had to know that she was happy and that she was okay" Mrs Swan said fighting tears

David could tell that Mrs Swan was truly genuine in her emotions about Emma. But that still didn't explain why they would ambush a teenage girl who they hadn't seen in 13 years and somehow think it would turn out well.

"We are very sorry for what we did sharif. It's just hard to explain to someone how it feels to finally have the opportunity to reconnect with your child after so many years..."

"But she wasn't your child" David cut him off

"Do you have any children Sharif?"

David couldn't take it any more "In fact I have two! My oldest is the young woman that you have completely traumatized! How dare you come into this town and think that it is okay for you to ambush a young woman and think that she would take that well?! She was only three freaking years old when you left her and she is 16 now! You had your chance and you blew it. I'm sorry for what happened to your family but that does not give you the right to come to this town and disrupt mine. Now, you are leaving this town right now!" David said as he slammed his hands down on the desk

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone was frozen in their place before Mrs Swan finally spoke

"You're right"

"Honey"

"No, the Sharif is right. We had no right to come into this town and disrupt their lives. We are really sorry. We honestly thought that we may be able to at least come and repair some of the emotional damage that we caused your daughter but we were wrong." After another brief moment Mrs. Swan simply grabbed her husbands hand and began to walk out of the station when David finally spoke

"Wait"

OUAT

Emma was sound asleep on Snow and had been for a good hour. Snow enjoyed every minute. Since Neal was born she hadn't gotten much one on one time with Emma. She was thankful that Ruby and come home with her because when Neal had started to fuss Snow was able to let red calm him down and let Emma continue to sleep. Once Neal was put down Ruby returned to the couch "He is out like a light. Both your kids are good sleepers" She said with a small smirk looking at Emma who hadn't moved since she had cuddled up to Snow.

"Yes they are" Snow said lightly stroking Emma's hair.

"You're worried' Ruby said

"No"

"Snow. I love you but I'm your best friend. I know you're worried about all this"

"I don't know what I am Ruby. On one hand I am worried because if the Swan's were able to come here then who else will be able to come into town? On the other hand, I relate with the Swan's. I would do anything, I did do anything, to be reunited with Emma. I gave her up to give her her best chance. I can understand why they went to such lengths to find her, even if I don't condone their methods"

"So are you going to let them see her?"

"I don't know" Snow said hesitantly looking down at Emma and squeezing her a bit tighter

"The bigger question is will they be alive to let you make that decision. The look on David's face was one of pure anger"

"I bet" Snow said with a small smirk "I mean I was furious when you told me what was going on, being that he saw what happened, you're right. they may not survive" Snow said causing both women to laugh a bit louder then they meant to which caused Emma to stir a bit but she quickly settled right back down

"I should probably call him, he should have been home by now" Snow said picking up her phone. There was no messages of missed calls so she began to dial David's number.

Just then the front door opened

* * *

I know this chapter is a bit short but in order to take this where I want it I had to stop here or else this would be the longest chapter ever. As always your reviews mean the world and what keep me writing! Leave any comments about where you would like to see the story go or how you think the interaction should go. As I mentioned, I have an idea of where I want it to go but that could always change ;)


	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter 61**

 **wow I can't believe I have 61 chapters! when I started this pic almost a year ago I couldn't image that I would have 61 chapters! Thank you all so much for your support and comments! I hope you have liked this little twist of the Swan's showing up in Storybrooke. We will see a little bit more about why they are here and why they feel that they have the right to see Emma. I hope you enjoy! Please let me know if there is anything in this story that you would like to see!**

* * *

The Swan's froze at Charming's words. They shared a quick look between the two of them, maybe he would let them see Emma. They quickly turned and looked at the sharif.

"I am not okay with the way that you have hurt my daughter nor do I feel that your method of ambushing her at school was in any way appropriate." He took a deep breath to keep his cool before proceeding "I also understand what it is like to loose a child and get them back in your life. What I'm willing to do is go home and speak with my wife and we will decided wither or not we think it would be to Emma's benefit to see you"

Mrs Swan's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Do you mean..."

"I'm making no promises here" David said sternly pointing at the couple "What I am saying is that if my wife and I feel that _our_ daughter would benefit from seeing you or that it would bring closure I will let you know. For now, I would recommend going back to your room at Grannies and staying there until you hear from me" David said hoping that his intensity was enough to scare them into staying put.

Mrs Swan was about to say something when Mr Swan quickly took a hold of her hand and gripped it tightly "I think that is more than fair sharif, we will wait to hear from you" he said before leading him and his wife out.

As soon as David heard the door latch he collapsed into his chair and rubbed his hands down his face. He didn't know how he was going to have this conversation with Snow. He had been so determined to shove them out of town without asking a single question but there was something about the wife's desperation that took him off guard. He was glad he didn't promise them anything but he also was wondering if he should have said anything at all.

* * *

David walked in looking completely exhausted. All the adrenaline and anger rushing through him had zapped him of all his energy.

"Hey, I was just about to call you. How did it go?" Snow said a bit hesitant being that Emma was still in the room, even if she was asleep.

"I think we need to talk" He said slightly eyeing Red

"That would be my que to leave. Let me know if you need anything" Red said leaning down and kissing Emma's forehead before hugging her friend. She then walked over to hug David.

"Actually red you can. The swan's are still staying at Grannies, can you let me know if they try to leave the diner?"

"Of course! I will make sure they stay put" She said with a slightly evil glint. David hugged her and then opened the door to let her out. He then moved over to the couch and took up the place where Red had been.

"So what do we need to talk about?" Snow said knowing that she had to cut to the chase or Charming would never talk to her

"Snow...I don't know..." He said rubbing the back of his neck. Snow then reached over and took his other hand. "I know Charming, I feel the same way. I don't like the idea of them being here any more than you do. The way that Emma completely broke down..."

Charming immediately looked down at their now sleeping daughter and he felt his heart shatter into a million pieces "Then I think we know what we have to do" he said more determined than ever as he lightly moved a piece of her hair out of her face

"Charming"

"No Snow, you said she broke down at the thought of them, seeing them and talking with them will only hurt her more. We can't open her up to that again. As her parents it's our job to protect her!" He said a bit more passionate than he meant to causing Emma to wake up. "Hey baby, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. You can go back to sleep" He said lightly brushing her cheek.

"You're dad's right. In fact, let's go ahead and get you up to your bed so you're more comfortable." Snow said gently setting Emma up

"Wait" Emma said rubbing her eyes "I want to say something first"

Charming and Snow shared a quick glance that held an entire conversation before Charming finally spoke up "Okay Em, what is it?" he said placing his hand around her shoulders.

"I think I want to see the Swan's. I think that I owe them that much" she said still looking at her hands

"Emma, you don't owe them anything. They are the one's who gave you up and if you don't want to talk to them you have your mother and I's full support" David said feeling the anxiety rise up in him.

"Dad who would you feel if I said that to you and mom? I know that you gave me up to give me my best chance and they obviously didn't give me up on a whim, they had a sick kid. I'm not saying that I really want to talk to them or hear them because it did hurt me that they gave me up. But I also feel like I need to hear them out. Is that okay?" She said looking from Snow to David from some sign of approval.

Snow and Charming shared one more silent conversation before smiling at one another and then at their little girl. "What did we do to deserve a daughter that is so smart and mature?" Snow said placing a rental hand on top of Emma's while Charming pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. "Emma you can do whatever you want, we are going to let you take the lead and we will be with you every stop of the way" David added.

"Thank you guys" Emma said rapping an arm around each of her parents.

"Alright well I think you have had enough excitement for one day, let's go ahead and get you to bed" Snow said as she stood up and took Emma's hand in hers to help her stand up.

"Good night Em, David said standing and kissing her head one last time allowing Snow to take her upstairs and get her tucked in. He then moved into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. He knew that he and Snow had a long discussion ahead of how they wanted this interaction to go.

* * *

"What was that about?" Mrs Swan finally said when they were back in their room at grannies.

"What do you mean? You were about to ruin our only chance at getting close to our daughter!" Mr Swan snapped back

"That sharif was being so demeaning when he was saying things like ' _our daughter'_ does he forget that Emma may have other feelings? The sooner we get her out of here the better!"

"You know we have to get Emma to agree first right?" Mr Swan reminded his wife. They had agreed that kidnapping Emma was not going to work, but if they could convince her to come with them, it would be another story.

"Which won't be hard. From the looks of things, that sharif is quite overbearing. I hope that he has never gone off on Emma like that"

"Well hopefully tomorrow we will finally get to see our daughter and can make sure she's safe" Mr Swan added hopping into bed and turning off the light. What the couple was completely unaware of was the presence of Red outside of their room. Her wolf sense gave her impeccable hearing and she heard every bit of their conversation. She had to warn Snow and David before they let this crazy couple anywhere near Emma.

* * *

When Snow finally came down from tucking Emma into bed Charming as on the phone with someone

"Thanks...yea...we will definitely take care of that right away...talk to you later...bye" And with that Charming hung up the phone but his face was already turning red

"Charming?"

"I knew I should have just run that stupid couple out of town!" He said smacking the counter top

"David!"

"That was Red! She heard them in their room at grannies and they are here to take Emma!"

Snow stood in the kitchen in complete shock. "David...I...wha..." Snow couldn't even find the words to express her emotions at that moment. David walked up and took her in his arms and cradled her head in his hands.

"I know...I know Snow" he said as the tears began to flow. "We are going to take care of this tonight. I'm going to go over there and escort them over the town line and then we are going to make sure that the dwarfs are on patrol to make sure no one else comes into this town without our knowledge."

"Charming please be careful" Snow said placing her hand on the side of his face.

"I promise" he said covering her hand with his. "I'm going to call Graham for back up and you know Red will be a great help as well. I promise we are going to make sure that they leave town as soon as possible. Emma is not going to be hurt again" David said finally kissing Snow before grabbing his jacket and heading out.

Snow was beyond worried at this point because she knew Charming was on edge, but she also knew that Emma had wanted to hear them out because she believed that they were sincere in they approach. She was going to break Emma's heart all over again when she told her about this.

* * *

Charming had pulled out his phone and called Graham to meet him at grannies before calling Red to let her know he was on his way. He was kicking himself over and over for not sticking with his gut and running those people out of town when he had the chance. He could have put Emma in danger if he had let these creeps come near her. How dare they show up and act like they had any right to his baby girl? He was going to make sure that they were never able to get close to Emma ever again.

It didn't take long for him to arrive at Grannies and he saw Graham waiting for him outside. "What's going on boss?"

"The couple that came into down? They have plans to kidnap Emma. We are here to run them out of town for good" Charming said storming into grannies and easily found red sitting infant of the room on the second floor.

"Graham you ready?" Charming said looking back at his partner.

"Ready"

"David, take a minute here and calm down. I know you're upset but you need to walk into this room with a clear head ok?" Red said placing a hand on either shoulder. She and David had been friends for a very long time and she knew she had to talk some sense into him before it was too late. David knew Red was right and took a minute to count back from 10. He wanted to make sure that nothing happened that would put anyone in danger.

"Thank you Red. Alright, let's get the creeps out of this town" David then knocked on the door.


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62**

 **So we finally know what is going on with the Swan's coming to Storybrooke. How will Emma feel when she finds out? Thanks again for all of your positive reviews! I also want to give a shout out to justanoutlaw who has a few multi-chapter fics going right now that are amazing!**

* * *

Emma had heard everything that her parents had said and she sat on her bed in total shock. What was she supposed to think? These people _had_ ambused her at school and they were a bit crazy to think that showing up after 13 years was going to be okay. But she also understood that, at one point, she had called them mom and dad, she had loved them first. She knew that if she was ever going to get the chance to face them she had to get to Grannies. She quickly got up and threw on jeans and a hooded sweat shirt before putting on her tennis shoes and opening the window. As she was about to crawl out on to the fire escape she realized that her mother would panic if she came up to check on her and her bed was empty. She quickly grabbed a notepad and pen from her nightstand and wrote a quick note to her mother letting her know what she was doing and then scurried out the window.

* * *

David knocked on the door the first time and waited a moment before pounding on the door again to finally be greeted by Mr Swan who was rubbing his eyes

"Sharif? What are you doing here? I thought you said we wouldn't be hearing from you until the morning? This is a rude way to be awoken!" Mrs Swan had also made her way to the door at this point wrapping her robe around herself looking confused at the scene in front of her.

"Well I didn't need a full night to come up with a decision. I know why you're really here and you aren't getting anywhere near my daughter" David snapped at the couple

"I'm sure we have no idea what you are eluding to sharif" Mrs Swan said offended at the accusatory tone that David was using.

"Cut the crap! I heard you talking about how you came here to take Emma way from her family!" Red yelled at the woman

"What?" Mr Swan said

"I was walking past the rooms, making my rounds, when I heard you say that you came here to take Emma and you called her 'your daughter' which is total crap!" Red spat. David then placed a hand on her shoulder letting her know she was okay.

"My friend Ruby here is right. Emma is not your daughter, she's mine and you have no right to her" David added starring daggers at the couple

"Dad" Came a small voice. Everyone stopped and looked to the door to the stairs where Emma was standing.

"Emma! What are you doing here?" David said rushing over to her "Does your mother know you're here?"

"No, I left her a note. Dad I heard you in the kitchen...I have to talk to them" Emma pleaded

"Emma, I can't let you do that. These people only want to hurt you" He said taking her head in his hand while his other held her hands.

"If you're with me, they can't hurt me. I just need to talk to them. Not for them, for me" She said in a small voice. If she was being totally honest, she was scared to talk to them. It had taken her forever to open up to her parents and share with them her feelings so opening up to what are basically perfect strangers was going to be even more difficult. However, she knew that she had to talk to them for her own sense of closure.

"Emma"

"Daddy. Please. You can be there the whole time and we don't have to leave grannies. I need to do this for me" David looked back at Red who nodded that she would stay with the Swan's while David had a moment alone with Emma. He stood up and led her back down to the diner where they could be alone.

"Alright Em. What is this about?" David said sitting her down in the booth where he sat across from her

"This is about me getting closure...I know that you and mom said I don't owe them that and it's not about them, it's about me. I want closure over this part of my life. I'm never going to have this opportunity again to talk to the people who, essentially, would have been my parents"

"Emma I respect that. But you have to know, they came here to take you away from your mother and I. They still think that you are their daughter" David said reaching across the table and putting his hand on top of his daughters. "I can't let them try and hurt you again"

"That's why you are going to be there. Just have red bring them down here and we will both talk to them. I know you don't want me hurt daddy and I Love you for that. I know you won't let them hurt me if we just talk. After that, you can do what you think is best okay?"

David took a deep breath and ran his hand over his face. "Let me call your mother a minute okay?" Emma simply nodded and David kissed the top of her head as he got up to go call his wife.

"David? Is everything okay?" Snow answered the phone

"Not exactly. Emma snuck down here to grannies"

"SHE WHAT?!"

"Snow, it's okay" David interrupted "She is safe. The Swan's are up in their room and I have Emma down stairs in the dinner. But Snow...she wants to talk to them"

"Absolutely not! I can call Lancelot and have him come pick her up" Snow said determined to get her daughter as far away from those people as possible

"Snow...wait...she is asking to speak to them because she thinks it will help her. She isn't doing it for them...she's doing it for her"

"David we are her parents! I respect her desire to talk to them but they are out to hurt her!"

"I know which is why, if we let her do this, I would be there the whole time..." There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment "I don't want her anywhere near them either, but this is really important to her"

"David...if they so much as reach over the table to try and touch her..."

"They are dead. I promise you. She will sit on the side of the booth with me and then as soon as the conversation is over I will run them out of town"

"That girl is so grounded"

"Agreed" David said with a slight chuckle looking back at Emma "I will call you when we're done here. I will have Red bring Emma home while Graham and I take care of the Swan's"

"I love you Charming"

"I love you too" and with that he hung up the phone and walked back over to Emma. "Alright kid, you won. You get to talk to them. BUT you will sit on the inside of this booth, say your peace, and then your Aunt Red is taking you straight home, do you understand?"

"Thank you Daddy!" Emma said jumping up from her seat and wrapping her arm around his waist. David cradled her head in his hand. "I love you too kiddo. Alright, I"m going to go up stairs and let Red know what's going on okay?" Emma just nodded against his chest before pulling away and sitting back in the booth.

* * *

"David!" Red said coming up to David. "Do you need me to take her home?"

"Not yet" He said placing a gentle hand on her shoulder before turning to the swans who were now sitting on their bed in their room. "Mr and Mrs Swan, please pack your things and meet me down in the diner" David said before signaling Red to follow him. He led her to the backdoor where Graham was standing guard and explained to the pair what was going on. Graham would stay put at the back door while Red would guard the front, keeping all exit's secured and then after that Graham and David would escort them out of town.

* * *

It only took about 15 minutes before the Swan's entered the diner carrying their bags. Emma and David were already sitting in a booth with David keeping Emma to the inside to keep the Swan's from trying to run with her.

"Emma" Mrs Swan gushed as she moved toward the booth and tried to reach out and touch Emma. David quickly responded and put a protective arm over Emma while staring daggers at the woman

"You don't get to touch her. Now sit back" He spat. Mrs Swan looked furious but did in fact sit back in her seat before softening her features and looking back at Emma.

"You are so big. You grew up to be such a beautiful young woman"

"Thank you" Emma responded, a bit unsure about how to act in this particular situation

"I'm so glad you agreed to see us" Mr Swan said having already taken his seat.

"I agreed to do this for me, not for you" Emma said bluntly "I have some questions that I would like answered for my own knowledge. Other than that, I don't have any interest in getting to know you, okay?"

"Emma, we know this has to be hard"

"Hard? You think this is hard?" Emma cut off Mrs Swan "Hard is growing up and thinking that the only people who were ever a real family to you abandoned you. Hard is wondering why 'mommy' and 'daddy' never came back to get you and why you had to stay with some stranger! Emma started to cry. David wrapped his arms around his daughter and cradled her head. "Emma, I think you've been though enough"

"No" Emma interrupted her dad. I need to finish this. "Now" She said wiping away the tears. "I want to know, why in the world did you wait thirteen years to come back and try to find me?"

The Swan's took a minute and looked at each other before Mr Swan finally spoke up. "Emma, when we gave you up...we didn't know if we could handle having two very young children. Then, when they got sick...we had a lot going on and the grief of loosing them was too much. I went through a very dark period and didn't think I would ever be able to love someone again. It was about three years ago though that we started looking for you again."

"Then when you found out that I had finally found a family...my real family...why did you try and come after me?" Emma said sternly.

"We had to see that you were actually happy" Mr Swan jumped in. "We had to know that you were going to be okay before we gave up"

"And you didn't think that going through the proper channels was appropriate?" David asked. He still was not happy about the fact that they had ambushed Emma earlier that day.

"The social worker told us that they wouldn't tell us anything and that we couldn't see her" Mrs Swan said sounding defeated. WE then hired a private investigator who took two years to finally find you. Emma, you have never been far from our minds and we just wanted to make sure that you had everything that you deserved. We have never stopped thinking about you. We have always considered you our daughter"

"I'm sorry but, I have a mom and dad now. I don't consider you my parents and I never will. I appreciate you for taking care of me, but I don't want to see you again" Emma said staring straight at the couple.

"Emma" Mr Swan said trying to reach out and take her hand before David placed a protective arm across Emma to block his advance.

"You heard my daughters request and you will abide by it. My deputy and I will be escorting you out of town and I better not see you anywhere near here again. IF I do, I will not hesitate to resort to extremes. You have threaten the safety of my family and hurt my daughter and I don't take that lightly" David hissed.

"All we want is a chance to get to know Emma"

"And she already told you she doesn't have any interest in that" David yelled back at the woman. "I am not beyond placing a restraining order against you two if that's what it takes. She has no desire to get to know you and frankly neither to my wife and I. Now, grab your things, you're leaving" And with that David guided Emma out of the booth and took her over to Red who then escorted her out of the diner and back to the loft. David was grateful that Emma had finally gotten the closure that she needed, but he was desperate to get this couple out of town and as far away from her has possible. The couple quickly gathered their things and made their way to the front door where David was waiting while Graham took up the rear. "Now, I will be taking the lead, my deputy will be following behind. Any attempts to try and get back into his town and attempt to contact my daughter will not be tollerated"

The couple simply nodded and followed David out of the diner and got into their car and were swiftly led out of town to David's relief.

* * *

Snow had been so worried about Emma that she didn't realize that she had been pacing the loft for almost an hour when she heard a knock at the door. She quickly ran over and was relieved to see Red standing there with Emma.

"Emma! You had me worried sick! What were you thinking sneaking out like that?" She said as she held Emma as close to her as humanly possible.

"I'm sorry mom" Emma said through tears. Snow looked concerned and Red decided that her goddaughter would probably prefer if she explained. "Emma got to talk to the Swan's with David and I present and this were not as understanding as any of us hoped. I brought Emma back here and David and Graham are escorting the couple out of town."

"Thank you Red! Do you wanna just crash on the couch? I feel bad that we have kept you running around today" Snow said thankful that her family had so many people that cared about their children.

"No it's fine. I really don't mind. I'll do anything for my god kids" she said as she rubbed Emma's back. But you guys come by the diner tomorrow and I'll have breakfast ready for you guys. I think you all deserve a break"

"Agreed. Thank you so much! Snow said reaching out and grabbing her friends hand. She then watched as she exited and she quickly shut and locked the door and went back to focusing on Emma.

"Honey, you want some hot chocolate?" Snow asked moving some hair from her face. Emma simply nodded into Snow's chest. "Okay, why don't you go get some pajamas on okay?" Emma nodded again and made her way upstairs. All of this was breaking Snow's heart. She wished that Emma hadn't gone and talked to that couple. Then again, maybe this was what Emma needed to move on. Whatever the case, she knew that she and Charming would be there for her through it all.


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63**

 **Wow! It has been WAY too long since I have updated any of my stories. For any of you still out there thank you for continuing to read. I was wondering if anyone even was still reading and I looked back through my traffic graph and found out that there have been people reading this particular story every day for over a year! I knew at that point that I had to keep writing.**

 **I stopped for so long because I am still working through my various health issues and I also just lost my passion for writing these stories. I think it was partly to due with my life being super over whelming and the fact that I was missing seeing these characters every week. I then realized that I can keep them alive in my own way through this story; and that's exactly what I'm going to do :)**

 **This chapter is going to be pure charming family fluff because they really haven't had that in a long time. I also am going to mention Neal breast feeding so if that bothers you you have been warned (I mean, it's natural people!)**

 **Please enjoy and let me know what you would like to see next! I will try to keep updates more regular but your support and ideas really help move the story along.**

* * *

Snow held Emma on the couch and let the tears fall out until there were no more tears to cry. Snow was lost for words. She didn't know what to say to her daughter to make the pain go away. She simply held her tighter and stroked her hair in a failed attempt to stop the tears. All that she wanted to do in that moment was find the swan's and give them a piece of her mind. How could they seriously believe that ambushing a teenager, whom they hadn't seen in over a decade, would lead to a "family bonding moment"?! Why would they want to take her away from a family who loves her? How do they even know that they could be a family? They had no idea what Emma had been through singing leaving their home. If she was honest, Snow didn't know everything Emma had been through. There were only a few moments from time to time when Emma would drop her mile high walls low enough for she or charming to see in. Each time it broke their heart to realize what they had allowed to happen to their baby girl by making that decision on that fateful night so many years ago.

Eventually Emma fell sound asleep in Snow's embrace. Snow finally let her own tears flow out. That was when the door finally opened to reveal a distraught looking David slowly come in and lean his back against the closed door. He ran his hands down his face while staring at the floor. Snow moved Emma off of her chest and carefully laid her on the pillow she had originally propped herself up against and covered her with a blanket before making her way over to her husband. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest trying to close the physical divide between them. David weakly brought his arms up to wrap around his wife and the two held each other while they silently let out their own tears. They both felt at a loss for how to help their daughter move forward.

Eventually they checked on Emma to make sure she was comfortable on the couch, not wanting to move her for fear of waking her up. They then made their way to their own bedroom and changed into pajamas. The entire time, not uttering a single word. They then crawled into bed where Charming took his wife into his arms were they fell asleep in each others embrace.

The morning came earlier than either of them wanted. They both woke to hear Neal's soft cry in his crib. Charming got up and plucked him from his crib before walking over and handing him to Snow. "Hey there baby" Snow said in a high pitched voice she reserved for only Neal. He immediately reacted with a toothless smile before Snow got him set to feed.

"He would be the one thing to get us to break our silence" Charming commented letting Neal wrap his hand around his finger

"You knew we were going to have to at some point" Snow said with an understanding look. She hadn't wanted to break the silence either. It was as if the silence was keeping the monsters at bay. Neither of them knew what to say to the other to make things better.

"I just want to keep her safe and I feel like I failed"

"David, you didn't fail her. If anything you were there when she needed you most" She said reaching over and taking his hand in hers.

"Dad"

The small voice caused them both to look up in shock. They saw their daughter standing in the doorway wearing one of David's old T-shirts looking much younger than she was. "Please don't think that way" She said as she came closer and climbed up next to her father on the bed.

"Emma, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"No, I'm glad I heard it. But I need you to know that mom's right. I never would have had the courage to face the Swan's had I not had you sitting next to me. I chose to talk to them, I chose to ask them why they gave me up. I didn't necessarily expect the reaction I received, but I also knew that, by asking that question, I was opening myself up to a multitude of different reactions and answers."

"But I could have said no. I could have kept you from ever having to experience that" He said placing a gentle hand on her cheek. "I know you are growing up, but you will always be my baby and I hate seeing you sad or upset. You're my princess" he said as a tear escaped down his cheek.

"Stop it!" Emma said through a nervous laugh. "You're gonna make me cry" She said wiping at her eyes to catch her own tears before they fell. "But seriously dad, I don't want you to beat yourself up for what happened. I finally have the closure that I have always wanted and now those people are out of our lives for good"

"I thought we were the ones who were supposed to comfort you" Snow said jokingly stroking Emma's hair that hung down her back.

"What can I say? I learned from the best" Emma remarked before turning to take her mothers hand. Just then Neal equaled from under Snow's shirt. She quickly brought him out and handed him to Emma so she could get herself situated.

"Hey there baby bro!" to which Neal replied with a squeal. "I agree Neal, pancakes sound great" Emma said with a wink to her mother.

"Speaking of breakfast, Ruby told me that we could all come by the diner this morning and she would make us breakfast" Snow said taking Neal from Emma so she could start getting him ready.

"That sounds _amazing_ " Emma said, exaggerating the word amazing

"What is that supposed to mean? I thought you loved my pancakes?" David asked jokingly

"Of course I love your pancakes" Emma said before leaning up and placing a kiss on her dad's cheek. "But grannie always sneaks a shot of espresso into my hot chocolate to make it better" She whispered at the end before making a B-line for her room. David simply started laughing. It finally made sense why Emma suddenly had a huge dose of energy every time she had a hot chocolate from grannies. They may have to talk to granny about that.

It wasn't long before the little family were dressed and out the door on their way to grannies. When they arrived they were warmly greeted by Red who was glad to finally see them all smiling. "I was wondering when I was going to see the charming family make an appearance this morning" she commented as they took their seats at their regular booth.

"Well it takes a little bit to get all of us looking this good" Snow joked. The truth was that she spent most of her time getting Neal dressed and packing his diaper bag as he had spit up on two outfits before she had finished getting herself dressed and she had to keep changing him.

"Well either way, I'm glad you're all here. Do you all want the usual?"

"Yes! and grannies hot chocolate for me!" Emma said excitedly

"And tell her to cut the espresso" David added giving Ruby a look that let her know she was busted

"What?" Snow added looking between her husband and her friend

"Oh Emma informed me this morning that granny has been adding a shot of espresso to her hot chocolate" He said looking down at his daughter

"You traitor! I trusted you!" Emma said pointing at her father accusingly

"No wonder you always ask me to make sure granny knows it's for you when I come to pick up our orders sometimes!" Snow said, finally catching on to her daughters little deal with the diner owner.

"I'll go put your order in" Ruby said as she quickly exited. She was not about to get into this with her friends. She also wasn't going to tell them that she was going to put the espresso shot in Emma's cup anyway.

"Dad!"

"Emma!" David said in the same whiny voice

"Emma you are going to be bouncing off the walls if you drink that!" Snow added

"You guys didn't even know about it till just now which means you didn't notice any difference!"

"Oh we noticed a difference, why do you think we stopped letting you get a hot chocolate after school? We thought it was just the sugar, but the espresso makes a whole lot more sense" David added

"I'm never going to share my secrets with you again" Emma said pouting.

"Come on Em, we both know that's not true" He then leaned down to whisper in her ear "How else are you going to get me to tell you where I have my hidden Oreo stash?"

"You wouldn't!" Emma said sitting up and turning to look at him

"You wanna bet?" He said with a smirk. Emma then jokingly punched him in the chest "Fine"

"Aww, I knew you couldn't be mad at me for long" he said wrapping her in a hug.

"What about me?" Snow said looking at the two. She was pretty sure that she could guess what charming had said but she also wasn't going to push it. She appreciated the relationship her husband and daughter had.

"You have Neal, I have Emma, I thought that was our deal?" David said jokingly

"Well Nealy, we'll just have our own secrets won't we?" Snow said lifting him up and nuzzling their noses together.

"Alright, one stack of regular pancakes, one stack of chocolate pancakes, two scrambled eggs with toast" Ruby rattled off as she put the food down. "I also have tow coffee's and a hot chocolate" She then winked at Emma to let her know that their deal was still on. Emma quickly returned the wink without her parents noticing.

"Thanks Ruby, it all looks great" Snow commented.

"well thanks Snow. Let me know if you guys need anything" The family then went on to enjoy their meal with Emma especially enjoying her extra special hot chocolate.

* * *

After chit chatting with Ruby and Granny as they finished their meals they eventually decided to make their way home and enjoy a movie while Neal took a nap. Once they arrived at the loft, Snow immediately started getting Neal a bottle ready so that she could feed him and get him to bed. Meanwhile, David and Emma got the snacks ready. They were firm believers that air popped popcorn was much better than the store bought stuff in the bag. They also loved to add cinnamon and sugar butter instead of the salty traditional butter that you get at the movies. It was their family tradition and they loved in.

David started by getting the popper down while Emma got to work on getting the butter, cinnamon, and sugar all melted and mixed together to go over the popped kernels.

All three were done with their individual jobs right around the same time and settled down to watch the new Spiderman movie. Emma had gone and seen it in theaters withs one of her friends from school but David and Snow still hadn't had a chance to see it.

"You guys are going to love it! It's super funny but also has all the action that you love from the other movies!" Emma explained. She used the remote to navigate to the pay-per-view menu and purchased the movie. They all settled into the couch with Emma in-between her parents.

All of this helped the charming family to put the prior days events out of their minds and enjoy simply being a normal family. They knew that eventually they would have to discuss what happened but that day wasn't today. Today was about them and what they needed. Nothing could be better than this.


	64. Chapter 64

**Hello Everyone,**

 **I went back too look at this story and found out that there are still people reading this so I am going to try and keep going with it. I also have another story called Protective Custody that I would love for you to check out as well :)**

 **When we left the Charming's, the Swan's had been run out of town and the Charming family had a great family night. Now time to get back into the drama. ;) Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 64**

Things around town had been pretty quite. David had asked the dwarfs to take extra patrol shifts around the own line in case the Swan's decided to try and make another attempt at contacting Emma. Although everyone tried to move on, it still was lingering at the back of everyone's mind. Emma in particular had become very clingy to both David and Snow, not wanting to be away from them for long periods of time. The worst thing was when the nightmares started. The first night, Emma's blood curdling screams had woken both David and Snow from a sound sleep, along with Neal. David ran into her room and started to shake Emma firmly but gently by the shoulders to try and get her to wake up. She threw her eyes open wide and darted her gaze around the room before her eyes locked onto David's. She immediately wrapped her arms around him and held him in a vice grip for a good 10 minutes before her body finally relaxed and allowed David to pull away a bit and wipe away the tears.

"Honey, what happened?"

"I...I don't want to talk about it...I...I can't" and then a fresh bout of tears came pouring down her face. David immediately cradled her head in his hand while pulling her close with the other. He felt his own rage began to boil up inside of him at the thought of the Swan's, how they had caused his daughter to have such horrible nightmares. He wished he would have taken a shot at Mr. Swan when he had the chance at the town line. It wasn't fair that his little girl as having to go through all of this when it was completely avoidable.

Once Snow got Neal settled, she made her way to Emma's room and found her husband trying to calm Emma down. She came to the other side of Emma and began rubbing soothing circles in her back. The two parents just stared at one another, both at a loss for words. They didn't know how they were going to help their daughter to move past this. The pain that she was feeling broke their hearts.

"Sweetheart, how about we go downstairs and get some hot chocolate?" Snow suggested. Emma simply nodded into David's chest and he helped her stand up while still keeping an arm wrapped around her. When they got downstairs, David sat down on the couch with Emma, who immediately curled into him and took ahold of his shirt. David rightened his arm that was around her and then covered the hand that was holding his shirt with his own. He desired so badly to make Emma feel safe and secure in this moment, and this was the only way that he knew how. Mary eventually made her way over to the pair with three cups of hot chocolate.

"Hey Em, you wanna sit up?" David asked as he tried to get a look at her face. He then felt her moving and helped her to sit up next to him so she could hold on to her mug. The three sat in silence, with none of them knowing what to say for a good twenty minutes. When Emma's mug was finally empty, David and Snow heard a faint voice. "They came back"

"What was that sweetheart?" Snow asked leaning in.

"They came back...in my dream...they came back."

Emma, I promise you, they are never going to be a able to hurt you again." David said definitely. He was going to do whatever it take to make good on that promise.

"I was alone...I yelled and screamed...no one was there...they took me away..." Emma said as she looked at the floor. The way she said it haunted Snow and David as she had no emotion or fluctuation in her voice. It sounded like it was a fact that had already been determined and they hated it.

"Emma, look at me honey" Snow asked as she got down in front of her daughter. Emma looked up and made eye contact, but there was still little emotion or life behind her eyes. It was if she was looking past Snow rather than at her. "Emma, I know that your dream was very scary, and felt very real. But I need you to know that it was just a dream. You are safe. Dad and I are here and we aren't going anywhere." As she spoke she took Emma's face into her hands to try and help ground her to reality, eventually Emma's eyes seem to lock onto Snow's, causing Snow to release the breath she didn't even realize she was holding.

"mom?"

"Yes honey, it's me, and I'm not going anywhere" Emma immediately flew forward and wrapped her arms around Snow as more tears began to fall. The trio eventually all ended on the couch with Emma's head in Snow's lap and her legs on David. As Snow ran her fingers through Emma's hair, she slowly dozed off into a restful sleep, something that she desperately needed.

"David..."

"I know, we have to talk to Regina. There has to be something that she can do to keep them out, even if it is just strictly them."

"But what about others? It's not like there are a lot of people who would find what is going on here 'normal' by there standards. They could turn this into a freaking circus!"

"Snow..."

"I'm serious! People in this world would never believe us if we told them we were fairy tale characters! They would either lock us all in an insane asylum or charge people money to come see!"

"What are you saying?"

"What if we went back?"

"Are you sure? We don't even know if that is even possible!"

"But what if it was? What if we could go back and be where we belong?"

"But Emma and Neal, they didn't grow up here, they have no grasp of a world with out technology and indoor heating!"

"They would learn to live without it. We grew up without technology, and we ended up just fine! We could raise Emma and Neal like the proper Prince and Process that they are!"

"Snow, you know that I miss our home as much as you are, but we are lading this town. I don't know if everyone would be willing to go back with us. We can't just abandon them. And what about the oger's?"

"We can defeat them like we did before. I think everyone would be ready to go back after all the issues that we have had here. At least there is a danger we know verses a danger we don't" Snow leveled with him.

"Is it though? An outside world that may find us freaks verses goers that could tear us lim from lim seems like very different dangers"

"David, how can you say that after tonight? Our daughter is having nightmares because people from her past tried to kidnap her and take her from us. Taking her to our home, it would keep something like that from happening again!" Snow argued. She was doing her best to keep calm in order not to wake Emma but was finding it harder and harder to do by the moment. as her own frustration was starting to take over.

"Snow, I know that everything in you is going full on mama bear right now, but I think we need to sleep on this and talk gain when we have clear heads." He said gently running his hand up and down her arm to try and help her calm down. He really understood where she was coming from, but he needed her seeing clearly before they made any rash decision.

"Charming, I'm not changing my mind on his. I want to go home"

"Okay, we can talk about it again in the morning. Let's get this little girl to bed and then do the same" He knew that this conversation was going to go round and round if they didn't end it now. Snow nodded and watched as David gently moved Emma's legs before moving infant of her and picking her up bridal style in his arms. She moved her head over to him in her sleep and immediately latched on to his shirt. Snow followed David up to Emma's room and helped get her tucked in before they both headed back down to their room. They didn't talk as they both fell asleep as their minds wondered to what might be.

* * *

The Swans were staying at a hotel about two hours out from where they knew Storybrooke was located. They had been camped out for the last few weeks, trying to formulate a plan on how they were going to get Emma back. They didn't know who those people thought that they were, but they were not Emma's parent's, they were. Whatever happened, they were going to get Emma back and they were going to be a real family, just like they were always meant to be.

* * *

The next morning was a silent one between Snow and David. Snow's mind hadn't changed about wanting to return to the enchanted forest. She was stick of having things happen to her family because of this world. She knew the enchanted forest had dangers of hit's own, but they were dangers she knew how to combat. She only had to get David to see things her way.

David knew his wife's determination to return to their original home was not going to go away any time soon. However, he also knew that he needed to find a way to show her that he could keep she and their children safe in this new world despite the dangers that surrounded them. If he was being completely honest, his desire to stay was partially for selfish reasons. HE enjoyed the modern convinces of electricity, indoor plumbing, and wifi. He liked that he was able to track Emma's whereabouts from a satellite somewhere in space and that she was reachable at the touch of a button. He didn't want to go back to the days of having to travel miles on horseback and camping out in the woods. In this world, he could make it around town (and from town to town) much faster in a car. He had spent the last 16 years in this world and was ultimately afraid that he would no longer fit into the world that they had left. He didn't understand why Snow couldn't see these things.

They both moved about the kitchen in their regular sequence of events, Snow helped start breakfast before Neal woke up for his feeding, Charming finished things up and set the table while they both kept an eye on the top of the stairs waiting for Emma to come through. Both still in the silent conversation of what to do next. They both were truly too stubborn for their own good.

* * *

At some point very early in the morning, Emma awoke in a cold sweat and immediately started looking around her room for something to ground her to reality. Finally she looked out the window and saw the clocktower. That clocktower was the one defining landmark in storybooke and always reminded her of home. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep so she pulled on a pair of sweat pants and grabbed her running shoes before slipping into one of her zip up hoodies and climbing out onto the fire escape and making her way down to the street. The street was still a bit dark as the sun started to rise overhead. It was extremely peaceful to see the town that normally was a buzz with people coming and going from the shops and going about their daily work. She had never seen the town from this point of view. It also gave her time to think.

If she felt safe enough to walk around this town at night without even thinking about it yet, she couldn't find safety in the same place during the day with people that she knew loved and cared or her. She just wished that she could put the entire Swan incident behind her and go back to her life as she knew it before hand. She hated the fear that came over her when she was in a crowd. She kept wondering when someone was going to come up and grab her. The slightest touch made her job out of her skin. When her parents weren't around, she felt a panic attack coming on. She had to get over her fears and take back her life. It started with today. Today she was going to be in town during the busiest hours of the day and face her fears head on, starting at grannies. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and started off toward her destination.


End file.
